Majority Leader | Press Release | Press Releases | THE NE...Skip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNE×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUFacebookXInstagramFacebookXInstagramVisit Leader Thune's South Dakota Site Here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMPress Releases10.17.25Thune Joins The Briefing with Steve Scully“[T]he Democrats are under an enormous amount of pressure from their hard left, and they’ve got this big rally in town this weekend, and, you know, they’re just demanding that they fight, no matter what the issue is” Click here to listen to The Briefing with Steve ScullyWASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined The Briefing with Steve Scully on SiriusXM radio.On Democrats’ historic obstruction:“[T]he politics around it is … largely different.”[T]he Democrats are under an enormous amount of pressure from their hard left, and they’ve got this big rally in town this weekend, and, you know, they’re just demanding that they fight, no matter what the issue is, the president, on pretty much … whatever comes up in the Senate these days.“[N]othing is as it’s been in the past in terms of moving legislation, moving executive branch nominations, everything is much harder than it used to be. I think part of it is … it’s the politics of the moment … but regrettably, we’re in a situation right now where a lot of federal workers aren’t getting paid. And the way to change that is to open up the government.”On Democrats’ shutdown hypocrisy:“[Y]ou know … nobody wins. I’ve said that before, and that used to be a view that was held by our colleagues on the other side, by the Democrats. But it seems, at least now, that there is a … partly, I think, around this big event this weekend here in Washington, with all the left-wing activist groups coming to town, a real sense that they needed to not do anything until that rally was over.“And even then, I mean, they’re just under a tremendous amount of pressure just to resist and fight. And I think at this point, even the simple things that normally, like we just tried to get on the defense appropriations bill, which should be legislation that, most years, gets 80-plus votes in the Senate, and the Democrats blocked even proceeding to it.”“[A] handful of folks on the other side have to come to their senses.“We have a bill that’s sitting at the desk in the Senate. You’ve covered this place long enough to know that we could pick that up today, pass it, send it to the president, he would sign it into law, and the government would open up again. “So for now … we need five more Democrats. We’re at 55 votes in the Senate, and five more Democrats give us the requisite 60 to open up the government.”On rising health care costs:“[W]e want health care premiums to be lower, not higher, and health care to be more affordable, not less. And I think one of the challenges we have right now is the way some of these programs are designed. “[T]he specific question we’re dealing with right now are the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, or what we call the covid subsidies, that were put in place by the Democrats just a few years ago. They set the expiration date. The reason we’re dealing with this expiration date at the end of the year is because they put that in place. But that program, for example, is so inflationary. I mean, there isn’t anything in there to contain costs. The payments are made directly from the government to the insurance companies. The insurance companies go out and automatically enroll people. There are zero-premium policies. People don’t even know they have coverage. And there’s no income cap …“So it’s a program in desperate need of reform and I think there’s a path forward to be able to do that, but you know, you can’t do it while the government is shut down.“And I think right now … the big question is going to be, will the Democrats open up the government so that we can actually address this health care issue before … the end of the year, which is when … the deadline … for this program, expire.”PrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER THUNEFacebookXInstagram
