Northeast South Dakota News

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune recently appeared on the Ruthless podcast, where he discussed various legislative and political issues. During the conversation, Thune spoke about the "Big Beautiful Bill," describing it as a significant piece of legislation. He stated, “It was an incredibly comprehensive piece of legislation, and [the] most comprehensive and consequential legislation I’ve dealt with in my time in either the House or the Senate."

Thune highlighted key aspects of the bill, including national security, border security, energy dominance, tax relief, and entitlement reform. He emphasized that the process was time-consuming but rewarding: “And so it was an incredibly time consuming and exhausting process, but great to get across the finish line.”

On tax permanence, Thune noted that providing certainty around the tax code was a priority: “I think those are huge features of our tax code that we haven’t had in a long time.” He also mentioned efforts to address national debt concerns: “We’re $36, $37 trillion in debt, and we want pro-growth policies in the economy to get the economy growing.”

Thune criticized Democrats for obstructing nominations in the Senate: “They are blocking and obstructing and delaying at every turn.” He pointed out specific instances of obstruction involving national security positions.

Discussing government funding challenges, Thune commented on Democrats' role: “[Democrats] didn’t fund the government last year... if the government’s going to shut down, it’s going to be on them.” He urged cooperation among Republicans to keep the government funded.