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 Releases10.03.25Thune: Open the Government, Open the Discussions“[Democrats] have taken hostage the federal government, and by extension, the American people, who are the only losers in this.” Click here to watch the video.WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):“Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker.“The Speaker is right.“We have an opportunity to pick up a House-passed bill that, if it passes the Senate, will be sent to the White House, the president will sign it, and the government will reopen.“It’s that simple and that straightforward, and that’s all we’re talking about here.“All we need is a handful more Democrats.“We have a majority of senators – 55 senators have already voted for this clean, short-term, nonpartisan CR.“As the speaker said, no policy riders, no gimmicks, nothing in here that benefits Republicans.“This is a straight-up seven-week funding resolution, and we need it to keep the government open.“And if we don’t keep the government open, you’ll have all the things that the speaker just alluded to, all the Americans who are adversely impacted by this government shutdown.“Now, this is something, as you all know, as recently as the last administration, during the Biden administration, when the Democrats had the majority here in the United States Senate, the Democrats, on 13 different occasions, voted for this, a short-term continuing resolution.“Now, I have to ask, what’s changed?“What’s different about this?“What’s different is who’s in the White House.“That’s what it is about.“It’s all about President Trump and the Democrats needing to pick a fight to satisfy their far-left political base, far-left activist organizations, who are the tail wagging the dog right now.“That’s all this is about.“And you have a Democrat leader from New York in the in the Senate, a Democrat leader in the House from New York, and you have a mayoral race in New York, you’ve got AOC, you’ve got all these people that are bringing pressure to bear on what should be a routine, simple, straightforward proposition, and that is a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded, which is sitting right now, sitting right now, this is sitting at the Senate desk.“We will have a vote in another hour or two, and it will be the fourth time that Democrats will have an opportunity to vote to keep the government open.“Now, at some point, reason, good sense, common sense has to take effect here, because that’s really what this is.“They brought to us – and the speaker alluded to all the impacts on illegals and free health care programs in this country – a bill loaded with $1.5 trillion in new spending, which includes all these provisions, and they want to load that onto a seven-week continuing resolution to fund the government.“Now, what’s happening right now?“When the government is shut down, all the things that we could be doing – the defense authorization bill, which benefits every congressional district, every state across this country is languishing right now because we are shut down.“The other appropriations bills.“We have people in the Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, and frankly, Democrats, I think especially, because they haven’t had a chance to be heard in the appropriations process for a really long time.“Because when Chuck Schumer ran the Senate, we didn’t do appropriations bills.“We didn’t put them on the floor.“They marked them up in committee, and then they died, and then he wrote it behind closed doors in his office.“That’s the difference.“We are opening this process up, and one of the things that’s not getting done while the government is shut down is an appropriations process that allows us to fund the government the old-fashioned way, in the light of day.“We aren’t working on permitting reform, which should be a bipartisan priority.“We aren’t working on a farm bill.“We got a lot of farm policy this summer in the working families tax cuts bill, but there’s more to do there.“Those should be bipartisan things that we could be working together on, along with appropriations.“All those things aren’t getting done right now because Senate Democrats have chosen to shut the government down.“They have an opportunity, a fourth opportunity – fourth time today, fourth time – to vote to open up the government and to allow us to do the rest of the work that the American people expects us to do.“They have taken hostage the federal government, and by extension, the American people, who are the only losers in this.“Everybody’s talking about who wins and who loses and who gets the blame.“That’s not what this is about.“This is about [doing what’s] in the best interest of the American people, and what’s in the best interest of the American people is keeping the government open and operating so it can continue to work on their behalf.”PrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER THUNEFacebookXInstagram
