Sen. John Thune digs in on GOP funding bill, accusing Democrats of holding government 'hostage' [View all]

Source: NBC News

WASHINGTON — A defiant Senate Majority Leader John Thune vowed that Republicans will hold firm on their seven-week funding bill, insisting that the only way to prevent a government shutdown this week is for Democrats to support it.

In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Thune said it’s “totally up to the Democrats” whether a shutdown will be avoided. He vowed that there won’t be any negotiations on a stopgap bill, likening Democrats to hostage-takers who are “hijacking” the process to pursue ideological demands.

“We need eight Democrats to pass it through the Senate,” Thune told "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker, adding: “What the Democrats have done here is take the federal government as a hostage — and for that matter, by extension, the American people — to try and get a whole laundry list of things that they want that special interest groups on the far left are pushing them to accomplish.”

He said Republicans won’t compromise on the short-term bill, calling it a mechanism to keep pursuing a long-term deal.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/sen-john-thune-digs-gop-130646751.html