Government shutdown updates: Senate vote marks step towards ending federal shutdown

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he is hopeful that Democrats will "come to their senses" this week and vote to reopen the government.

"Shutdowns are stupid," he told reporters Tuesday. "I've been here long enough to have been through a few of them. Nobody wins. And so, you know, I think the, obviously, the American people ought to hold us all accountable."

Thune said he still doesn't know what exactly Democrats want to reopen the government.

"We have accommodated a lot of their questions and concerns. They want to have a discussion about health care. We offered that up a long time ago," he said. "I've talked repeatedly about having a normal appropriations process where we put bills on the floor, open it up in the amendment process and allow people to have their voices heard and how we fund the government the old-fashioned way. But so, I'm still at a loss as to what it is exactly they're trying to get out of this."

Thune said there are ongoing discussions about what the new deadline will be for a short-term bill to fund the government.

"The Nov. 21 deadline no longer makes a lot of sense. So clearly it would have to be extended. And there is a conversation around what that next deadline would be," he said.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller

The House Freedom Caucus has endorsed a long-term continuing resolution that would go into November 2026 if not later -- setting up a clash with GOP leaders.

This comes as House and Senate leaders are looking at a new date for the continuing resolution in either December or more likely, January.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller

The White House on Tuesday would not guarantee all furloughed federal workers will get backpay -- despite a 2019 law President Donald Trump signed that guarantees it.

The Washington Post reports the administration is sending notifications to federal staff suggesting that only those who worked during the government shutdown will be paid when it ends.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is "open to discussing with Democrats" the issue of backpay, indicating they are once again using federal worker pay as a pressure point to get Democrats to vote to reopen the government. However, she would not specify what that discussion would entail or why a federal law is being discussed.

-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Karen Travers

Senate Republicans appeared rather optimistic that they could convince a handful of Democrats to abandon their demands to fund the government by the end of this week. But Senate Democrats have not said as much publicly, though some are signaling there are indications of a "thaw."

Behind the scenes, a small bipartisan group of rank-and-file senators is in conversation to find a way out of this shutdown. It would almost certainly require Democrats to drop the reason they are putting up this fight: extending expiring Obamacare subsidies so healthcare costs don't rise for millions.

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds told ABC News once the election is over, Democrats may have more of an appetite, saying "so they will have turned out their base, and I think that makes it a little bit easier for them now to come back in and actually get something done."

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin even said he believes Democrats could get there by Thursday or Friday.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal told ABC News there "seems to be some indication of a thaw," but it may take longer. When asked whether he would be willing to drop his healthcare demands, Blumenthal said if Democrats back away now, what will it all be for?

"I speak only for myself, which is, what have we done to endure all of this inconvenience and some pain if we don't accomplish something for the American people. And I sense and sympathize with the hurt that people are feeling, but the greater hurt is to go without health insurance, and that has to be the goal, rather than just capitulating and walking away, leaving the American people stranded and alone without help," he said.

-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Lauren Peller