Rushmore State News

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) addressed the ongoing government shutdown during a press conference in Washington, D.C., alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.). Thune criticized Senate Democrats for not providing enough votes to pass legislation that would reopen the federal government.

Thune stated, "Leader Chuck Schumer may think that every day that goes by, the shutdown gets better for the political prospects of the Democrats. But every day that it goes by, it gets a lot worse for the American people."

He noted that disruptions are already being felt by families and by those working in air travel, such as TSA agents and air traffic controllers. Thune emphasized that only five more Democratic votes were needed to pass the bill to end the shutdown.

"The American people are going to … feel a lot more pain and miss a lot more paychecks in the very near future," Thune said. "So, shame on the Democrats. Shame on the Democrats for doing this to the American people."

Thune also accused Senate Democrats of prioritizing their activist base over reopening the government. He said, "Republicans want our troops to get paid. We want our air traffic controllers to get paid. We want our TSA agents to get paid. We want our Border [Patrol] agents to get paid. And we have voted that way now in the United States Senate seven times, to open up the government."

He argued that continuing resolutions are standard practice and pointed out that similar measures had been passed multiple times when Democrats held both chambers and President Biden was in office.

"It’s just a straight-up bill to keep our government open so we can continue the appropriations process and get back to work for the American people," Thune concluded.