WASHINGTON (AP) — The consequences of a government shutdown setting in, senators labored Thursday to find a way forward but found themselves struggling to overcome a fundamental lack of trust between the two parties.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday afternoon floated an “off ramp” to the government funding impasse, suggesting that he could hold a later vote on expiring health care subsidies if Democrats would first support a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer quickly dismissed the idea. “It’s nothing new, they say it all the time. It doesn’t do anything to make sure we get health care.”

The exchange showed how congressional leaders remain trapped in a stalemate on the ninth day of the government shutdown despite the growin

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