WASHINGTON — On the second day of the government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune from South Dakota described the situation as “stupid” and expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of negotiating with Democratic leader Senator Chuck Schumer.

In an interview with NBC’s Tom Llamas, which is set to air Thursday night, Thune mentioned that Democrats would have another chance on Friday afternoon to join Republicans in supporting a straightforward, short-term bill to restart government operations.

Thune noted that he and Schumer, the Democratic Minority Leader from New York, frequently cross paths on the Senate floor, given their nearby offices. He mentioned that Schumer knows where to find him if he wants to discuss, but Thune was doubtful about the productivity of such negotiations. “The issue is pretty straightforward right now,” he said, questioning the need for further talks.

For more on this story, tune into “Top Story with Tom Llamas” at 7 p.m. ET on NBC News Now.

Thune explained that the current situation involves a seven-week funding resolution intended to maintain government operations, allowing continued progress on appropriation efforts that began earlier this year.

Talks between Republican and Democratic leaders stalled after an unproductive meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump on Monday. Following the meeting, Trump released a mocking AI video aimed at Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, escalating personal attacks between the parties.

The government shut down on Wednesday for the first time in six years, with no signs of reopening.

Schumer and the Democrats insist that any funding plan must include an extension for Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are due to expire at year-end. However, Thune remains firm on not discussing these tax credits until Democrats agree to help Republicans reopen the government.

“I’m all about getting it back open again. I think shutdowns are— nobody wins, and I think honestly, for the most part, they’re stupid,” Thune said in the interview. “We really shouldn’t be shutting the government down, and it shouldn’t be taken hostage to do other policy things that are totally unrelated to funding the government.”

In a statement Thursday, Schumer suggested the American people were turning against Republicans, who currently control all levers of power in Washington.

“Americans see it clearly: They know Trump governs by chaos and welcomes this shutdown — and that Republicans are following his orders to maximize pain. That cruelty is already backfiring,” Schumer said. “Americans blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, and the longer they drag it out, the deeper the pain and that blame will grow.”

Pressed by Llamas, Thune defended Trump and his top aides who have said they are planning to move forward this week with permanent federal layoffs due to the shutdown, as well as revoking billions in federal funding for projects in blue states like New York, the home state of both Schumer and Jeffries. Thune said none of these things would happen if the Democrats helped reopen the government.

“Tom, let’s come back to the basic premise: This is avoidable,” Thune said, adding that the Democrats “are playing with fire by doing this.”

He added that Trump’s budget director, Russell Vought, and other administration officials would make spending decisions during this shutdown based on where “their political priorities lie.”

“It’s very simple, you avoid this by just voting to keep the government open,” he said.

The Senate did not hold votes on Thursday in honor of the Yom Kippur holiday, but has scheduled votes at 1:30 p.m. ET Friday on dueling Republican and Democratic plans to reopen the government. Yet those same funding bills have already failed three times before.

If the proposals are defeated for a fourth time, Thune said earlier Thursday, the Senate will likely not hold any votes over the weekend. That means a shutdown would last at least until Monday, when the House is also planning to be back in town following a two-week recess.

“They’ll have a fourth chance tomorrow to vote to keep, to open up the government,” Thune told reporters in the Capitol. “And if that fails, then we have the weekend to think about it. We’ll come back. We’ll vote again on Monday.”