Free Republic

U.S. senators have left town for a week-long recess, leaving themselves only five days to pass the six remaining federal government funding bills. Four of those massive bills, which are also the thorniest, have not even passed the lower chamber, though House leaders hope to advance them in a package next week while the Senate is off. If Congress fails to meet the deadline – which many, including the National Governors Association, anticipate – they face a partial government shutdown. In that instance, the only way lawmakers could prevent a shutdown would be by punting the deadline via a Continuing...

<p>Republican John Thune threw in the towel on his South Dakota Senate race yesterday, notwithstanding the suspicious circumstances under which he lost by a mere 524 votes. We think that at a minimum he owed his many supporters a recount.</p>

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Wednesday signaled an end to further Democrat shutdown shenanigans with a move to go back to what he called the "old-fashioned way" of funding the government. Speaking to members of the press, Thune said that the "path to a stronger, safer America" is getting funding bills passed through the traditional appropriations process "instead of continuing resolutions." The Schumer Shutdown, which brought chaos to American airports, cut funding to SNAP benefits, etc., ended after 43 days. 🚨NOW — Senator John Thune says government is going to operate the OLD—FASHIONED way!By passing appropriation bills instead...

The Supreme Court's decision to allow the administration to pay only partial SNAP benefits during the shutdown gives Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress a clear road to victory in the shutdown fight now entering its 39th day. SCOTUS recognized that this is not a separation of powers constitutional issue. It's a political issue, and the Supreme Court tends to avoid intervening in political disputes. The ball is now firmly in the hands of the Democrats, who have gotten themselves into a no-win situation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tried a delay gambit, offering to reopen the government if...

Thune last week dismissed the possibility of nuking the filibuster as a “bad idea," but on Thursday night President Donald Trump urged the Senate to use the tactic. Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office on Friday indicated that the leader's position has not changed on whether to use the nuclear option to bypass the filibuster and end the government shutdown, despite pressure from the White House.Thune last week dismissed the possibility of nuking the filibuster as a “bad idea," but on Thursday night President Donald Trump urged the Senate to use the tactic, which would circumvent Democratic opposition to...

Leader Thune and the Republican majority deserve praise for their strategic leadership in clearing procedural roadblocks and putting an end to Senator Schumer’s unprecedented obstruction. It’s a win for the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to change Washington.

After persistent Democrats obstruction to all Trump nominees using old Senate rules, Thune got the Senate rules CHANGED today to allow confirmation of Trump's nominees in batches. Today alone, 48 Trump nominees will be confirmed in a big batch. Expect more batch confirmations in coming weeks and months. Expect more crying and gnashing of teeth from the crazy Schume who's attempt to trade confirmations for money for his crazy projects come crashing down.

As we were warned, Senator Thune is blocking President Trump from making recess appointments by conducting pro forma sessions. Is he really a Republican? We are seven months into Trump’s term, and he doesn’t have his judges and over a hundred of his key appointments. McConnell went home early, and the die was cast. What an absolute disgrace. Thune’s procedural games expose the swamp for what it is. They care about preserving their power and engaging in Senate gamesmanship while agencies are leaderless.

This week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) "cannot cut Medicaid funding for sex changes or illegal immigrants. The eligibility of these two categories is a policy decision made by a previous president and a previous congress and cannot be changed by a simple majority vote on this reconciliation bill." Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala) asserted "the 'woke' Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid ten years ago, just struck down a provision banning illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens. The Parliamentarian 'advises.' She does not 'rule.' Reducing the amounts spent is germane to...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Senate Republicans to expect to see the legislative text of the budget reconciliation package on Friday evening and then to vote at noon Saturday to begin debate on President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Several GOP senators, however, refused to say whether they would vote to proceed to the bill, including Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he’s a hard “no” on the legislation because it includes a provision to raise the debt limit by $5 trillion.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that if he does not "make a serious proposal for an immediate ceasefire" with Ukraine, the Senate will pass new sanctions against the Russian government. -snip- "If Russia is not willing to engage in serious diplomacy, the Senate will work with the Trump administration to consider additional sanctions to force Putin to start negotiating," Thune said Thursday. This comes the same week Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned senators in a hearing that if "you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking." -snip- The bill also would set...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is blazing forward with a controversial move to repeal California's EV mandate — and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is warning it will come back to bite him.Why it matters: Schumer (D-N.Y.) all but threatened to deploy similar strategies to get around opinions by key, nonpartisan rule makers if and when he grabs back control of the chamber."What goes around comes around," Schumer said on Tuesday. He and other Democratic leaders have described the GOP move as a "nuclear option."Thune (R-S.D.) accused Democrats of "throwing a tantrum."Driving the news: The Senate will vote as soon as...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he did not want to see taxes go up on anybody when asked about President Donald Trump’s comments on taxes. On Truth Social Trump posted, “The problem with even a “TINY” tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming,“Read my lips,” the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election. NO, Ross Perot...

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Breitbart News exclusively he is targeting a July 4 deadline to get the big budget reconciliation plan that would extend President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts– adding no tax on tips, Social Security income, or overtime wages–to the president’s desk for his signature. This is welcome news for the president and his team, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also has recently said he hopes for a July 4 date for the package to be wrapped up. The package is also expected to fund more of the president’s immigration priorities, as well as...

The Senate, once again, was working into the early morning hours Friday with its new majority leader, Republican John Thune, setting the pace. It wasn’t until just after 2 a.m. that the last of the senators had straggled into the chamber to cast their vote on the confirmation of retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vote capped a grinding start to the year for the Senate that included several all-night floor sessions and — importantly for Thune — the quickest top-level Cabinet confirmation process in the past 20 years....

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) about making interest payments on loans for American-made cars tax deductible. While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump revealed that he has spoken with the leaders of both chambers of Congress about his vision for tax deductions on loans for U.S.-made cars. “If you buy a car in the United States that’s made in the United States, if it’s manufactured here… if you borrow money you have interest payments, we’re going to let you deduct the...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Thursday that Republicans are open to giving Democrats an amendment vote on a monthlong stopgap funding patch in exchange for votes to help Republicans pass a yearlong spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Thune told reporters he has yet to speak directly with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a path forward. “If they want a vote on that in exchange for getting us the votes to pass the [CR] to Sept. 30, I think we’re open to that,” Thune said Thursday morning. “But as you all know, the House is...

I do believe we have to give credit where credit is due. The people selected by POTUS Trump, sans Gaetz, have or are being approved for their Cabinet positions. Every one of them, sans Gaetz and it has occurred about has quickly as we could hope. Without saying too much or drawing attention to himself, Senator Thune obviously gets a lot of credit for pulling the GOP Senators together and getting the job done. Senator Thune certainly has my respect, and I admire his approach, which is directly opposite of his nemisis, Chucky Schumer.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) suggested Friday that open Senate seats in Michigan and Minnesota could serve as potential pickup opportunities for Republicans in 2026. “I think they are,” Thune said during an interview on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom,” when asked if both states served as possible pickups for the GOP. “I mean, those are open seats. Minnesota is arguably slightly harder than Michigan,” he continued. “Both are our states that we haven’t elected a Republican senator to from — in a long time. But I think that these are different times and people are looking for change in...

Senator Thune! Schedule the votes and call the roll. Stop INTENTIONALLY dragging your feet.