Rushmore State News

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) appeared on The Hugh Hewitt Show and NBC with Tom Llamas to discuss the ongoing government shutdown and the role of Congress in resolving it.

During his interviews, Thune criticized Senate Democrats and their leader, Chuck Schumer, for what he described as a strategy that led to the current impasse. “I just don’t know how [Democrats] sustain this position … Schumer has led them … down this rat hole. And I don’t know how they get out of it right now. But … we need five of them to flip tomorrow on the vote, and we can open up the government and get back to work. But [Democrats] seem to be really invested heavily in their far-left special interest group strategy here. This is the shutdown of MoveOn.org and Chuck Schumer,” Thune said.

Thune emphasized his willingness to negotiate further once Democrats agree to reopen the government: “When [Democrats] vote to open up the government, we’re happy to talk to them about some of these other things. I mean, obviously I’ve made it very clear: We want to do appropriations bills. That’s something they didn’t do under Chuck Schumer, and he liked to write those bills behind closed doors in his office.

“And so we’ve tried to have an open, transparent process, and we want to get back to that … I think a lot of his rank-and-file Democrat senators do too. But [Chuck Schumer has] got them right now in a tough spot. I’m hoping that they’ll see the light and realize that this isn’t, this is a losing strategy, and it hurts the very people that they, you know, profess to represent.”

He pointed out that many federal employees are affected by the shutdown: “You’ve got a lot of government employees and folks across the country who are going to be harmed by this shutdown, and it was totally, totally avoidable and … Schumer’s put them in this spot now … I don’t how [Democrats] get out of it, but they’ve got to vote open the government first and foremost, and then we’ll talk about whatever they want to talk about later.”

Thune also questioned whether Democratic senators from moderate states would continue supporting current leadership strategies: “Most of these Democrat senators … represent … blue states, but they’re not states that are crazy left, and I think they’re starting to recognize what happened. And so we’ll see if that fissure continues. But … something’s going to have to give here, because they’ve gotten themselves into a heck of a bad spot, because … Chuck Schumer deployed a strategy, and they walked blindly and followed behind it. And now I think they’re figuring out it was a strategy that was heading them into a brick wall.”

Regarding legislative tactics around funding resolutions Thune said: “[Chuck Schumer] tried to hijack this short-term funding resolution to do a whole bunch of the liberal, left-wing wish list, and I think the American people are seeing through it.”

He added: “The far-left activist base in [Chuck Schumer’s] party is what’s driving this, and they want a fight with the president. This is politics … they’re trying to make it about something else. But the truth of the matter is, their base desperately wants them to pick a fight with President Trump, and they’ve chosen this. They’ve picked this hostage; I don’t think it’s a smart one; and I think it undermines what they’re trying to accomplish in the long run.

“But it’s a fight they’ve picked; Senator Schumer has deployed this tactic; The Senate Democrats have followed him at least up until now; but I think that we still have a chance for them to come to their senses and do what I think is the right thing ––and that's keep the government open––and then let’s talk about how we address some of these issues that they want addressed.”

Thune concluded by warning against setting new precedents for future negotiations: “We can’t be held hostage by these… crazy far-left special interest groups. If they start making this practice—and we start giving into it—it’ll become norm… We need hold line stay unified House Republicans Senate Republicans president United States President Trump ready sign bill House sent Senate.

“All Democrats have do deliver handful votes pass it we'll be back business…”