House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a news conference on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, on the ninth day of the government shutdown, Thursday. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

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.

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