Thune reveals reason Democrats are 'scared' to reopen DHS

FIRST ON FOX: The top Senate Republican argued that while Senate Democrats may be the ones voting against reopening the government, they're not the ones calling the shots.

"The Democrats up here on the Hill are so afraid of their far-left base," Thune said. "And I think the far-left base, their demand right now, is defund ICE, defund law enforcement, which is not, by any stretch, a reasonable position."

The agency has been shut down for 35 days, putting the latest closure into record-breaking territory. Senate Democrats have, so far, blocked four attempts to reopen the agency over demands for stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how agents operate in the field.

It also comes as lines at airports stretch for several blocks as workers go unpaid, and concerns of terrorist attacks are at a fever pitch in the wake of the Iran war. Thune will again put a bill to reopen the agency on the floor on Friday, and Democrats are again expected to block it.

"So it seems to me, at least they are - these guys - they are running scared," he continued. "They, I think, believe they benefit politically from this."

Still, Republicans were hopeful that there would soon be a breakthrough to the impasse.

"Unfortunately, the Democrats' list of demands keeps growing and growing, and that makes it difficult," Collins said. "But the group that was in there is operating in good faith, and I hope we'll get together again very soon."