Bipartisan talks in the U.S. Senate to end the government shutdown have taken a positive turn, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Saturday, with lawmakers working on deals to temporarily reopen the government and introduce three longer-term funding bills for some agencies.
Asked by reporters whether there have been bipartisan talks within the last 24 hours that have been positive in nature, Thune, a South Dakota Republican, responded, “Yeah. I’d say so.”
Saturday marked the 39th day of the federal shutdown, which has already sidelined many federal workers and affected food aid, air travel and national parks. After weeks ot.f faltering talks, Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate seemed to start negotiating in earnest late this week.
Lawmakers on Saturday hoped to unveil the full text of three fiscal 2026 full-year funding measures for agriculture, food and nutrition programs, along with money for military construction projects, veterans’ programs and funding to operate Congress, according to Republican senators. The proposals would fund those operations through Sept. 30, 2026.
Meanwhile, senators have been working on a stopgap measure that would buy them more time to reach a deal on the remaining nine “discretionary” spending bills for the rest of the federal government, such as agencies for homeland security, defense, housing and health.
