Thune on shutdown talks: 'It’s back to the drawing board'
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) indicated that the ball is still in the court of House Republicans after a second proposal to extend government funding floundered in a vote on the floor, and he said they must figure out how to move forward ahead of Friday night's deadline.
"I guess it's back to the drawing board," Thune told The Hill as he exited the Capitol. "We'll see. We'll figure out in the House what they want to do next, and they'll digest this last effort and see what plan B is."
"We have to be able to figure out a path forward," he continued. "We're little over 24 hours away from a shutdown, so it's going to have to happen quickly, but we'll figure it out."
The comments came shortly after 38 House Republicans voted with almost every Democrat to vote down a proposal crafted by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in coordination with President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, among others.
The spiked bill would have extended government funding until mid-March, increased the debt ceiling for two years and included funds for disaster relief and farmer economic assistance.
Johnson rolled the bill out on Thursday afternoon after Trump, Elon Musk and scores of conservatives came out against the 1,500-plus page bill that included a number of concessions to Democrats to bring them on board.
Top Democrats are now urging Johnson to track back to that bipartisan compromise bill in a bid to keep the lights on for the government.
"It's a good thing the bill failed in the House," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters. "And now it's time to go back to the bipartisan agreement."