WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader John Thune is rejecting Democratic demands on health care as unserious but says a government shutdown is still "avoidable" despite sharp divisions ahead of Wednesday's funding deadline.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune is rejecting Democratic demands on health care as unserious but says a government shutdown is still "avoidable"

Thune told The Associated Press in an interview he's "a big believer that there's always a way out"

Thune said Democrats are going to have to "dial back" their demands to immediately extend health insurance subsidies and reverse the health care policies Republicans passed over the summer

Absent that, the South Dakota Republican says, "we're probably plunging forward toward the shutdown"

"I'm a big bel

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