Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wants to reignite the government funding process, but Senate Democrats appear unwilling to support his effort. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"You know, I've been around here when everything's decided by four people in Schumer's office," Thune said. "That's not a way to run the government."
"It's not the business model that Chuck Schumer is accustomed to, and he likes to be the kingmaker and have everybody come and kiss the ring," he continued. "And I just think that's not my style."
Thune described his leadership style as a bottom-up approach "where senators get to be senators." That has proven true so far, in his handling of the shutdown.
He’s encouraged rank-and-file Republicans to have talks with Senate Democrats in the hopes of constructing an off-ramp from the shutdown, rather than handing down a my-way-or-the-highway edict.
SENATE DEMS TANK GOP PLAN TO PAY TROOPS, FUND PENTAGON AS SHUTDOWN HITS DAY 16
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with President of Argentina Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, Oct. 14, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Thune didn’t dive into specifics of certain reforms he and others in the Senate GOP would like to see, but he noted that reining in the cost of the program was a starting point.
"There's no incentive to control costs," Thune said. "And when the insurance companies are getting direct subsidies from the federal government to enroll as many people as possible, they're going to enroll as many people as possible, even if those people don't know they're enrolled."
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Meanwhile, Schumer has called on President Donald Trump to get directly involved in negotiations after a meeting with the president and Republican leaders at the White House late last month was not enough to prevent the shutdown from happening.
Thune said, "I think that happens," when asked if Trump would get involved, but he noted that first, the government has to reopen.
"That's basically what the White House has been saying," he said. "The president does like to be, you know, obviously, he is a guy who has experience and wants to solve problems and has experience making deals, and I think he's probably more than willing to sit down with them, but he's not going to let them extort him."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/thune-slams-schumers-kingmaker-politics-refuses-kiss-ring-shutdown-talks