Northeast South Dakota News

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) addressed the ongoing government shutdown during a press conference in Washington, alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Thune called for bipartisan cooperation to pass a short-term funding measure and reopen the federal government.

Thune stated, “Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker is right.

We have an opportunity to pick up a House-passed bill that, if it passes the Senate, will be sent to the White House, the president will sign it, and the government will reopen.

It’s that simple and that straightforward, and that’s all we’re talking about here.

All we need is a handful more Democrats.

We have a majority of senators – 55 senators have already voted for this clean, short-term, nonpartisan CR.

As the speaker said, no policy riders, no gimmicks, nothing in here that benefits Republicans.

This is a straight-up seven-week funding resolution, and we need it to keep the government open.

And if we don’t keep the government open, you’ll have all the things that the speaker just alluded to, all the Americans who are adversely impacted by this government shutdown.”

Thune referenced previous instances when Democrats supported similar measures: “Now, this is something, as you all know, as recently as the last administration, during the Biden administration, when the Democrats had the majority here in the United States Senate, the Democrats, on 13 different occasions, voted for this, a short-term continuing resolution.”

He questioned why circumstances had changed: “Now, I have to ask, what’s changed?

What’s different about this?

What’s different is who’s in the White House.

That’s what it is about.

It’s all about President Trump and the Democrats needing to pick a fight to satisfy their far-left political base, far-left activist organizations, who are the tail wagging the dog right now.

That’s all this is about.”

Thune also criticized Democratic leadership from New York for influencing negotiations: “And you have a Democrat leader from New York in the in the Senate, a Democrat leader in the House from New York... bringing pressure to bear on what should be a routine... proposition... which is sitting right now... at the Senate desk.”

He noted that with another vote scheduled soon—“We will have a vote in another hour or two”—Democrats would again have an opportunity to support reopening federal operations. He argued that important legislative work was stalled due to ongoing gridlock: “When the government is shut down... defense authorization bill... appropriations bills... permitting reform... farm bill” are not being addressed.

Thune concluded by emphasizing his view of Democratic responsibility for prolonging negotiations: “All those things aren’t getting done right now because Senate Democrats have chosen to shut the government down. They have an opportunity... fourth time today... to vote to open up the government and allow us to do [the] rest of [the] work that American people expect us to do. They have taken hostage [the] federal government and by extension [the] American people who are only losers in this...

This is about [doing what’s] in best interest of American people... keeping [the] government open and operating so it can continue to work on their behalf.”