Assistant Professor of Mathematics

A high-ranking Republican is blaming Democrats over a looming government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post on Monday, claiming that leaders must avert a spending crisis with a bipartisan appropriations process and claiming "Democrats are holding government funding hostage to a long list of partisan demands, totaling more than $1 trillion. And they’re ready to shut down the government if Republicans don’t comply."

Thune was among a group of leaders slated to meet Monday with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, which includes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

This closed-door meeting is just hours before the Oct. 1 deadline. A White House official described this as a make-or-break moment. It's also the first time Trump will meet with the Democratic leaders since he took office eight months ago.

Thune argues that "Republicans are open to discussion and negotiation on a number of issues."

"But there’s a difference between careful discussion and negotiation during the appropriations process and taking government funding hostage to jam more than $1 trillion in big-government spending in a funding bill designed to last mere weeks," Thune writes. "Major decisions should not be made in haste. And they certainly shouldn’t be made because one party is threatening to shut down the government if it doesn’t get its way."

As Republicans urge Democrats to accept the bill, Democratic leaders have pushed back against cuts to healthcare.

Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire this year. And without an extension, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 4 million people will lose healthcare over the next 10 years.

Thune claims that "Democrats have decided to abandon the process."

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) offered to be the "Democrat leading the committee" to campaign for President Donald Trump to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

On Thursday, Fox News host Aishah Hasnie asked Fetterman if he supported a Nobel Prize for Trump after the president announced a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

"Well, I mean, if this sticks, I think the whole point of having a Nobel Peace Prize is for ending wars and promoting peace," the senator replied. "And I'm going to make a direct appeal to the president. You know, I hope he chooses to provide the Tomahawks to the Ukrainians — and give them the tools that they need to push back against the Russia, and if he brings the Ukrainian war to its end, I'll be the Democrat leading the committee for his Nobel Prize — peace — for ending both of these terrible wars."