WASHINGTON 

The US Senate majority leader on Friday called on Senate Democrats to join Republicans in passing a House-approved stopgap funding bill that would reopen the government immediately.

"We have an opportunity to pick up a House-passed bill that—if it passes the Senate—will be sent to the White House, the president will sign it, and the government will reopen. It's that simple and that straightforward," John Thune told reporters as the federal government remains shuttered for a third day.

"All we need is a handful more Democrats," Thune said.

Fifty-five senators have already voted for the continuing resolution (CR), he said, calling it "clean, short-term, non-partisan," yet Democrats have vowed not to support any measure that does not include measures to keep health care costs down.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, for his part, said the lower chamber did its job.

"The House did send a bipartisan, very simple, very conventional, 24-page, continuous resolution to keep the lights on ... We passed it, and it's been rejected by the Senate. So, the House will come back into session and do its work as soon as (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer allows us to reopen the government. That's plain and simple," Johnson said.

Democrats say only a bill that includes an extension of health insurance subsidies is truly bipartisan.

Thune also responded to recent comments from President Donald Trump, who described the ongoing government shutdown as an "unprecedented opportunity" to reduce federal spending, fire government employees, and cut programs long targeted by Republicans.

Asked whether such rhetoric helps or hinders negotiations to end the shutdown, Thune pivoted, instead trying to blame Senate Democrats for prolonging the impasse.

"When you're in a shutdown situation, you have to manage the government, and any administration is going to make decisions based on their priorities—figure out where to move money, from here to here, this agency, this department, these employees. That's the situation the Democrats have put the administration in," Thune said.

He added that the government is “going to make decisions that are consistent with their priorities, and yes, they're going to have a different political view of the world than the Democrats might have, but that's what the Democrats have wrought by doing this.”

In previous shutdowns, employees were furloughed, not fired, and no government programs were ended. Democrats say such moves are likely illegal.

They also point to 2011 statements by Trump, before he became president, saying that in the event of a shutdown, "I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States. He's the one that has to get people together."