Congress

The top Senate leaders aren’t talking. That’s a bad sign for a shutdown.

Published

9 months ago

September 24, 2025

Any resolution to the shutdown standoff now gripping Capitol Hill will have to involve senators from both parties locking arms. It would probably help if the two top party leaders in the Senate would start talking to each other first.

Instead, a frosty pall has settled over the working relationship between Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with the two Senate veterans bickering over the path forward for a shutdown-averting stopgap bill.

As of Tuesday evening, neither man had spoken to the other on the subject, with each saying the other bears the burden of actually starting any conversation.

The stalemate between the two, who have served in the chamber together chummily for decades, encapsulates the partisan tensions that have raised the odds that Congress will fail to act and government agencies will close at midnight Tuesday.

Schumer in recent days attempted an end run around Thune, going directly to President Donald Trump with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to demand a meeting. After the White House moved to arrange that meeting, Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson relayed their concerns to Trump, who then canceled it.

It’s just the latest instance of the two leaders, who are each balancing larger political pressures, not being on the same page since January. But now, with the stakes as high as they’ve been all year, some senators are hinting it’s time for a thaw.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he believed Schumer and Thune could “figure this out” if only they could figure out how to get a conversation started.

“When people have offices very near each other and know each other’s phone numbers, I don’t think they should, ‘You gotta call me’ — ‘No, I gotta call you,’” he said. “Both need to be talking.”

But so far Schumer and Thune appear dug in. Schumer’s view is that Thune needs Democratic votes and thus should be reaching out. Thune’s view is that there is nothing to negotiate at the moment given that Republicans are offering a “clean” seven-week funding extension similar to ones Democrats have supported in the past.

It’s not clear what would come of any conversations, with senators skeptical that either leader will readily move from their current positions. While the New York Democrat is demanding a “bipartisan negotiation” centering on health care — primarily soon-to-expire health insurance subsidies — the South Dakota Republican sees no reason to cut a deal now on something that won’t go into effect until the end of the year.

Thune accused Schumer of trying to take funding “hostage” to satisfy his base, while Schumer said Thune is blindly following Trump’s lead as the president appears stuck in “go-to-hell mode.”

“I don’t think they’ve been sharing hugs,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said about the two leaders.

The chilly relationship is a rather new development. Schumer and Thune have served together in the Senate for more than 20 years, including overlapping on the powerful Finance Committee. Even into the first Trump administration, Thune spoke about his regular run-ins with Schumer in the Senate gym.

Late last year, as Thune prepared to take over from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as top GOP leader, Schumer took to the floor to congratulate him, saying that “we’ve done many bipartisan things here in the Senate together.”

But since Thune officially moved into the job in January, the two haven’t had a regularly scheduled meeting — unlike Thune and Johnson. And unlike McConnell, Thune hasn’t yet needed to lock arms with Schumer to deliver significant legislation — something the Kentucky Republican did on a debt ceiling hike, Ukraine aid and multiple rounds of federal help during the coronavirus pandemic.

Their biggest test, in fact, could be what comes after Oct. 1 — whether that’s finding their way out of a shutdown or notching the sweeping end-of-year funding deal envisioned by appropriators.

Thune said in a recent interview that, while he sits down with Schumer “occasionally” or they chat on the floor, their talks are “spontaneous” or driven by the “need of the minute.”

Their perfunctory working relationship has been on full display for their colleagues recently. They didn’t speak during a recent negotiation to tee up competing Republican and Democratic stopgap bills for a vote last Friday. They instead let top staffers, who have a good relationship and talk with each other almost constantly about routine Senate business, sort it out.

Thune has ceded most of the day-to-day talks over the larger government funding bills to Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is still optimistic about being able to strike a deal with the House on three full-year bills. But when asked about a shutdown-avoiding stopgap, she pointed back to Thune and Schumer: “I think that has gone to the leadership level.”

Thune and Schumer did speak on the Senate floor during unsuccessful negotiations around rules changes for nominations earlier this month. But Thune later joked that Schumer “couldn’t get out of that meeting fast enough.”

Both leaders’ political calculations are playing into the pas de deux. Schumer is under fierce pressure from the Democratic base to counter Trump and Republicans after caving under similar circumstances in March. (He and Thune did speak in the lead-up to that widely criticized vote.)

The New Yorker is now insisting Republicans will bear the brunt of the political fallout following a shutdown since they control both chambers of Congress and the White House. Speaking to reporters after the Senate voted down two dueling funding bills last week, Schumer said Republicans will “absolutely” be blamed, adding that “the world is totally changed from March.”

Thune, meanwhile, has to navigate Trump’s unpredictable machinations. Back in July, Thune, Schumer and their deputies sought to negotiate an agreement that would have expedited the confirmations of some administration nominees in return for the release of frozen agency funding. A deal was close, but Trump wouldn’t get on board, telling senators to go home instead — handing Schumer the opportunity to declare a small victory.

That unpredictability was underscored again by the White House meeting that was scheduled and then unscheduled at GOP leaders’ behest Tuesday. Thune also has to factor in that Trump has yet to sketch out a position on Democrats’ baseline demand: extending the health insurance subsidies that expire on Dec. 31.

The South Dakotan has been careful not to get ahead of Trump this year on legislation, knowing that if the president stakes out a different position it could put him, and his GOP members, in a politically awkward spot. Furthermore, he sees no reason to address a deadline that is still months away.

“Eventually, ultimately, the White House and Schumer are going to have to probably sit down,” Thune said in a brief interview earlier this month. “But I think right now what we’re talking about is short-term.”

Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

Congress

Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday

Published

15 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Speaker Mike Johsnon said he plans to send President Donald Trump a bipartisan housing bill Monday, just days after the president abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation after Congress failed to pass his elections security act.

Speaking with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson said the 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act is a Republican priority for lowering costs for Americans.

“I’m going to send the bill over to him on Monday, and it will become law,” the Louisiana Republican told host Maria Bartiromo. “I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson’s remarks.

The bill is the product of almost a year of back-and-forth between all four congressional corners and aims to increase affordability by boosting housing supply and home ownership. It passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan support.

Trump was scheduled to sign the bill into law last week but canceled the ceremony “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”

Trump’s SAVE America Act would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end mail-in voting. Trump has also said he would like the bill to include prohibitions on transgender athletes competing. But Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated the legislation does not have enough votes to pass.

Congressional leaders appeared taken aback by Trump’s signing cancellation, but Johnson on Sunday said he and the president have since met in the Oval Office to discuss the housing bill “in great detail.”

“We made a lot of promises to the voters, and we’re fulfilling those every single day of this Congress,” Johnson said. “This is a big part of that because this will increase the availability, the access to more housing, bring down cost, cut regulations, do the things we know are very important for that market. The president and I talked about that at length. Of course he wants to do those things.”

But if Trump does not sign the housing bill into law within the next few days, it would still become law unless he were to veto it. Congress also has the power to override a presidential veto.

Congress

Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump’s fixation on voting legislation

Published

15 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Thom Tillis on Sunday expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s continued fixation on passing the SAVE America Act.

In an interview with BLN’s “Face the Nation,” the retiring North Carolina Republican lamented “the impossible task” of implementing the requirements of the legislation ahead of November’s crucial midterms.

“Why are we doing more things to undermine our confidence in elections, rather than getting the strong message out that will win for Republicans this year?” Tillis said.

Rather than promoting the bill — which would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end widespread mail-in voting — Tillis said Republicans should tell voters about “the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America” while accepting the current voting laws.

“Win by the good results that Republicans have produced and stop undermining the confidence in the elections,” said Tillis. “This is a bedrock of our 250-year history of success as the democracy that changed the world. Let’s not mess with that between now and November.”

Trump has said the SAVE America Act is his “No. 1 priority” ahead of midterms, going so far as to abruptly cancel a bill signing for major bipartisan legislation on housing affordability until Congress passes his elections bill. But many Democrats are staunchly against the bill, arguing it could disenfranchise millions of voters, and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly indicated it does not have the votes to pass.

Tillis co-sponsored the original SAVE America Act but has objected to Trump’s version of the legislation, which would also bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.

It’s not the first time Tillis has clashed with Trump.

Earlier this year, Tillis blocked Trump’s Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department dropped an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has also spoken out against the Justice Department’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” calling it a “payout for punks.” And he has emerged as a fierce critic of Bill Pulte, Trump’s interim director of national intelligence.

“Let’s try and figure out a way to completely and finally end these distractions so that we can focus on the damage Democrats could do if they take the House, if they beat incumbent Republicans in the Senate. That’s what Republicans need to be talking about between now and November,” Tillis said Sunday.

Congress

Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump: ‘Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage’

Published

16 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared to question President Donald Trump’s view of Congress, saying in an interview that he is not sure Trump grasps that Congress “is a separate body, separate from the presidency.”

“Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage, and, frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage,” the Louisiana Republican said in a pre-taped interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday.

The latest criticism in a public clash between the two leaders, Cassidy also told host Margaret Brennan that he would be focused on affordability, including the cost of health care and groceries, if he were president.

“If I were president, I would be focused on those people that they have, my people, our people, us at the kitchen table. How do you make their life better? And that’s what I think the president should be focused on,” Cassidy said.

The relationship between Cassidy and Trump has been rocky for some time. Cassidy was one of only a handful of Republican leaders who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump and Cassidy recently clashed in a closed-door meeting between GOP leaders, with Cassidy admitting he raised his voice to “match” the president’s.

“The president said something negative about me. I received it as attempting to bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know, and I’m not going to be bullied,” Cassidy said at the time.

However, after receiving a special briefing from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Cassidy changed his vote on a resolution designed to rein in Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

“They said right now the negotiations are delicate, and they could collapse if they’re not nursed along in the appropriate way. I can accept that,” Cassidy said.

“That’s the reason they said for their kind of lack of being forthcoming. I can accept that, but my goal was to be briefed, to have the truth in order to make a decision for the benefit of my country, and that was satisfied.”

Still, Cassidy’s stance against Trump has cost him: After serving more than a decade in the Senate, Cassidy lost his campaign for renomination after Trump endorsed against him. Rep. Julia Letlow will be the Louisiana Republican Senate candidate this fall.