Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer privately told fellow Democrats during a closed-door lunch Thursday that he would help advance a House GOP funding bill — a strong indication that Senate Democrats will ultimately back down from forcing a government shutdown on Saturday.

Schumer’s closed-door comments, confirmed by two people granted anonymity to disclose his private remarks, comes amid days of Democratic agonizing about the possible shutdown. Their dilemma was forced by the House’s approval Tuesday of a funding patch through September, one that was written without Democratic input.

Schumer has not publicly reiterated his comments, which were first reported by The New York Times, but he is expected to speak from the Senate floor on Thursday evening. Republicans will need eight Democrats to help them break a 60-vote filibuster of the House GOP bill.

Senate Democrats held another closed-door meeting on Thursday but did not emerge with a unified strategy. A growing number of Senate Democrats have vowed to oppose the House GOP bill, including not helping it get over 60-vote procedural hurdles. But some Democrats have floated that they could help advance the bill in exchange for a vote on their preferred alternative, a 30-day stopgap that would make room to restart bipartisan spending talks.

Neither Schumer nor Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) have indicated that they’ve reached an agreement.

Rep. Raul Grijalva has died at 77, according to a statement from his office. The 12-term Arizona Democrat had been under treatment for cancer.

“Rep. Grijalva fought a long and brave battle,” the statement said. “He passed away this morning due to complications of his cancer treatments.”

Grijalva had been largely absent from Congress since the beginning of the year due to his health struggles. He was set to retire from the House at the end of this term and had stepped aside from his position as the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

Grijalva is the second House Democrat to die in office this month. Rep. Sylvester Turner of Texas died on March 5.

The Senate on Thursday voted 56-43 to confirm Bill Pulte as the nation’s top housing regulator, putting him at the center of a fight over the future of two government-controlled companies that prop up half the residential mortgage market.

As the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte will have oversight of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been in government conservatorship for more than 16 years.

The Trump administration is widely expected to seek to release Fannie and Freddie from government control — a complicated process that will rekindle debate about the role of the federal government in housing at a time when affordability has emerged as a major political concern.

Pulte gave few clues during his confirmation hearing with the Senate Banking Committee about what would happen with the companies, which buy mortgages and package them into securities for sale to investors.

“While [Fannie and Freddie’s] conservatorships should not be indefinite, any exit from conservatorship must be carefully planned to ensure the safety and soundness of the housing market without upward pressure on mortgage rates,” he told the panel.

Pulte expanded slightly on that position in a written response to questions for the record from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the committee.

“My priority in overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is ensuring a stable and thriving housing and mortgage market, and to this end, any decisions related to if or when Fannie or Freddie are released from conservatorship would involve the President and the Secretary of the Treasury,” he wrote.

Pulte declined to answer Warren’s question about whether he has consulted with outside advisers including Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund founder who has held sizable positions in both companies for years in the hopes that they would eventually be privatized.