(The Hill) — Senate Republicans are grumbling that President Donald Trump undercut their strategy for ending the government shutdown when he said that he’s willing to cut “the right deal” with Democrats on health care.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) scheduled three votes this week on a House-passed bill to reopen the government and keep it funded through Nov. 21 but failed to pick up any additional Democratic votes for the measure.

Some Republican senators worry Trump’s remarks convinced many Democrats that the president will eventually make significant concessions.

One Republican senator who requested anonymity to avoid angering Trump said that the president’s comments about being open to a “deal” with Democrats had “muddied” the Republican shutdown strategy.

“He just muddied the waters for sure,” said the lawmaker.

The Republican senator said that Trump floating a possible deal on the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies gave Democrats the false impression that their blockade of a House-passed government funding bill is putting pressure on the president.   

“They think we’re wobbling,” the senator added, who noted that Trump tried to walk back his comments.

“It doesn’t help this week,” the lawmaker added of Trump’s efforts to walk back his remarks, explaining the comments boosted Democratic morale.

Other Republican senators voiced similar frustrations with what they saw as Trump’s lack of message discipline on the shutdown.

“It was an opening” for Democrats, said a second Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss the internal Republican tensions caused by Trump’s comments. This Republican added that Trump is actually not under pressure to do a deal.

A third GOP senator said Trump undermined Thune’s and Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) efforts to shut down Democrats’ demands for a health care negotiation during the shutdown.

The senator said Trump’s expressed willingness to cut a deal with Democrats likely prolonged the shutdown.
“The indication that there’s a willingness to do that really delayed any resolution as there was this moment in which Democrats thought they had a path forward that doesn’t exist,” the lawmaker said.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, pushed back on the Republican senators’ criticism.

“President Trump, Speaker Johnson, Leader Thune, and Congressional Republicans are all in complete lockstep and have been consistent: we are happy to have a policy conversation with the Democrats once the government is reopened. Democrats have chosen to shut down the government because they want to give free health care to illegal aliens. The Administration will not negotiate while the American people are being held hostage by Democrats,” she said.

Trump walked back his Oval Office comments by posting a statement on social media clarifying to Democrats that he would only negotiate on health care after they vote to fund and reopen the government.

But Democrats came away convinced they’re winning the showdown battle with Republicans.

“Every day gets better for us,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) crowed in an interview with Punchbowl News on Wednesday.

Schumer has told his Democratic colleagues that Trump wants to cut a deal to extend the enhanced health care premium subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year.

“We really need him at the table doing that, that’s how we’ve always avoided shutdowns,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said, expressing hope that Trump would cut a deal to end the shutdown.

“The health care issue is one that he’s very aware of,” Kaine said of Trump. “If you talk to Schumer about the discussion [with Trump] in the Oval Office, the health care point was one that he definitely locked on to.”

Trump gave Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) the impression during a Sept. 29 meeting at the White House that he was sympathetic to their arguments that Americans would soon see the cost of their health insurance premiums soar.

Schumer told reporters after the meeting that Trump wasn’t on the same page as Republican leaders in Congress on the danger of soaring health premiums next year.

“When we made these arguments, it was clear there was a division or possible division between the president and the two Republican leaders,” Schumer said.

He said Trump “was not aware that Americans would pay, so many Americans, tens of millions of Americans, would pay huge increases in their health care bills because of the ACA expiring in December.”

Thune, however, disputed Schumer’s characterization of the meeting.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about. I mean we’re all on the same page,” he said of Trump and GOP leaders.

But Thune and Trump didn’t appear to be on the same page earlier this week when Trump said that negotiations with Democrats were ongoing and that he was open to a deal.

Thune and Johnson have said repeatedly they will not negotiate on the health care issue until Democrats help them pass the House-approved measure to reopen the government.  

“The Democrats want to have a conversation about the COVID tax-credit cliff that they created, and at some point we’re happy to have that conversation but not until the government opens up,” Thune said at a press conference Tuesday while the Speaker stood at his side.

He reiterated that point on Thursday, when asked about a potential deal with Democrats.

“We’re open to thoughts and ideas they might have, obviously, subject to them reopening the government,” he said.

Extending the enhanced health care premium subsidies, which were augmented during the COVID-19 pandemic, is broadly unpopular within the Senate and House Republican conferences, though there is a group of Republicans in both chambers who want to extend them.

Democrats feel confident they can push Trump into the camp of Republicans who don’t want the enhanced subsidies to lapse. That’s taking pressure off swing-state Democrats to vote for the House GOP bill to reopen the government.

“We need a bipartisan solution that prevents health insurance premiums from doubling and reopens the government. My constituents don’t want health care costs to go up by thousands of dollars, and they want the federal government open,” said Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the most vulnerable Senate Democrat facing reelection in 2026.

Ossoff said he wants a bipartisan deal and is waiting for Trump to get to the negotiating table.

“I am always, with respect to all things, engaged in constructive bipartisan conversations to try to solve problems,” he said. “Where [are] the United States representatives? Where is the president of the United States?”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Thursday said Democrats are waiting on Trump.

“We’re more determined, united, stronger than ever,” he said, noting that Trump has “talked about there being negotiations.”

“If he wants negotiations, we’re ready to come to the table. We’ve been there. We’re waiting for Republicans to do it,” he said.