Government shutdown updates: Senate vote marks step towards ending federal shutdown

President Donald Trump on Friday again called for the elimination of the filibuster in the Senate as a way to end the ongoing government shutdown -- despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune's comments against it.

Asked about his talks with Senate Republicans on ending the Senate's rule requiring 60 votes to pass most legislative matters, Trump again pushed for its elimination.

"The way to do it for the Republicans is to terminate the filibuster. They call it the nuclear option," Trump said, adding that Democrats would go this route.

"The Democrats will do this. So if the Democrats are going to do it, I'm saying Republicans should do it before they get a chance. It's very simple," the president said.

Trump said if the Senate approved ending the filibuster, "we would be back to work within 10 minutes after that vote took place and lots of other good things would happen."

"It doesn't make any sense that a Republican would not want to do that," Trump said.

Thune has repeatedly rejected Trump's calls for ending the filibuster. Thune has said there are not the necessary votes among Senate Republicans to change the Senate rules.

-ABC News' Sarah Beth Hensley

The Senate is in session Friday, but Majority Leader John Thune has given no clear indication of what direction they'll take on votes, leading to a number of questions about the Senate's schedule on Friday and this weekend as the shutdown ticks on.

A vote on the short-term government funding bill that the Senate was expected to take Friday has still not yet been scheduled. And while Thune suggested Friday afternoon that he may consider calling up votes on other bills adjacent to government funding, such as GOP Sen. Ron Johnson's bill that would pay federal workers who are currently reporting to work, votes on those haven't been scheduled either.

"Well right now, we've got to get the Democrats kind of back engaged, and so, I can't say what's in and what's out. I think that's going to depend on whether or not Democrats want to get to yes," Thune said. "I thought we were on a track, we had given them everything they wanted or had asked for, and at some point, I was going to say they have to take yes for an answer. They were trending in that direction, and then yesterday, everything, kind of the wheels came off."

While the timing of votes and specifics of what bills may be brought to the floor are at this time entirely unclear, Thune said today that he would expect the Senate to be here this weekend. Thune said another vote to reopen the government would come either Friday or Saturday, but only when Democrats signal willingness to support a package of bills that Thune said he's been negotiating with Democrats on.

"Our members are going to be advised to be available if, in fact, there is a need to vote, and we will see what happens and whether or not, over the course of the next couple of days, the Democrats find a way to reengage again," Thune said.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, in an interview on Fox News, said he's providing Democrats another chance later Friday to vote on moving forward to reopen the government.

"The Democrats just have to take yes for an answer. We have given them everything, essentially that they were asking for," Thune said.

Thune said Republicans have offered Democrats a proposal to re-open the government – which includes holding a vote on the Affordable Care Act as well as moving on a package of appropriations bills. Though he reiterated that President Donald Trump won't directly negotiate with Democrats until the government is reopened.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who previously served as a member of Congress, slammed senators for going home as the shutdown continues.

"When I was in Congress, we had shutdowns. I stayed here for a month. I didn't fly home. I sat in my office working on deals, working on solutions. Why are senators going home? If you can vote 14 times to keep the government shut down and create this gridlock in our airports, and you're going to go home -- they should sit here like Americans sit in airports. They shouldn't sit in their offices. They should sit in the Senate and figure out how they're going to come up with a deal to open this back up and not use the American people as leverage," Duffy said at Washington's Reagan National Airport on Friday.

Duffy encouraged airline travelers experiencing delays or cancellations to call their representatives.

"To those passengers that are upset, listen, call your Democrat senator. Fourteen times they voted no to open up the government," he said.