Government shutdown live updates as funding impasse nears record for longest ever

On the way to the Senate floor, a reporter asked Thune if he was “optimistic about the deal to reopen the government this week” and whether there had been “progress over the weekend.”

“I'm optimistic,” Thune said.

“Confident?” – asked the reporter.

“Take your time,” Thune replied, laughing.

Returning from the hall, Tune expanded his thoughts.

“I just think, based, sort of, on my gut feeling about how these things work, I think we're heading toward an impasse, but … this is unlike any other government shutdown in terms of how Democrats are responding to it,” he said.

He declined to provide details about ongoing talks to end the impasse but repeated an offer he made to Democrats.

“I think there are a number of things that we've provided for Democrats in terms of moving forward on appropriations, on implementing, you know, obviously the minivan that we've already passed in the Senate, and obviously we've indicated in the past that if they wanted to vote on any Obamacare bill, a specific date by which they could vote on it,” Thune said. “That's it, that's what I've been thinking about, again, I've been saying for a while now. They have to be willing to accept 'yes' for an answer.”