Northeast South Dakota News

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune recently appeared on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss key issues facing the nation. During the interview, Thune addressed several topics including economic policies, Democratic opposition, and government funding.

Discussing a significant legislative effort, Thune stated: “[T]he goal behind all this was to make the lives of working Americans, middle-income Americans, better... The president’s agenda is being accomplished piece by piece in a way that I think is going to benefit the American people by making our country safer and stronger and more prosperous.”

Thune emphasized the importance of making tax cuts permanent for economic certainty: “One of the things that we really fought for … was to make those tax cuts permanent... ensuring that people can make decisions now based on tax policy that’s going to be in effect.” He argued these measures would promote capital investment and create jobs.

Addressing challenges from Democrats, Thune expressed frustration: “I hope we will find that the Democrats want to work with us [on appropriations]. They haven’t demonstrated much of a willingness on anything so far.”

He also discussed potential bipartisan cooperation on permitting reform: “I am hearing... some interest among Democrats in doing something on permitting reform... So I’m a big fan of permitting reform, and if we can find some Democrats to work with us, I think that could be something that could be a real bipartisan win for the country.”

Regarding concerns about government shutdowns prompted by Democratic leaders, Thune commented: “This is a party struggling for an identity... But ... if their recent track record is any indication, they’re under a tremendous amount of pressure from that far-left wing of the Democrat party to shut the government down. But I hope they think better of it.”