Senate Republicans mull a vote offer to Democrats in shutdown standoff

US lawmakers faced mounting pressure to end the government shutdown as flight delays piled up and hundreds of thousands of federal workers went without pay.

Thune said that “if there are 8 or 10 Democrats that vote to open up” in exchange for a vote on the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, “that might be an off-ramp” to reopen the government. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said that senators “are in discussions” about making the offer for such a vote.

One Senate Democrat said that if Thune could guarantee a vote on both the ACA subsidies and bipartisan appropriations bills, it might be enough to switch some Democrats from no to yes on the House-passed spending bill.