WATCH: Thune Loses Persistence, Goes Berserk On Dem Colleagues For Shutting Down Authorities
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) delivered a fiery rebuke of Democrat-led government shutdown, which is on pace to become the longest in U.S. history. The senator pointed to past statements from Democrat leaders on passing “clean” funding resolutions and pushed back on efforts from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to blame the shutdown on Republicans.
After noting that the government shutdown is currently dragging through its 29th day — a little under a week short of the all-time record of 35 days — Thune addressed statements from one of his Democrat colleagues that attempted to blame Republicans for the looming SNAP (food stamps) crisis. Funding for the program has been depleted during the shutdown, though Senate Democrats have refused to pass a clean temporary funding measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), a total of 13 times.
In order to pass the legislation without threat of a filibuster, Senate Republicans will need to pick up votes from eight Democrats. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has opposed the measure, while just three Senate Democrats have voted in favor of opening the government.
“People should be getting paid in this country. And we’ve tried to do that 13 times. And you voted no 13 times. This isn’t a political game. These are real people’s lives that we’re talking about. And you all have just figured out, 29 days in, that, oh, there might be some consequences,” Thune said from the Senate floor Wednesday.
“There are people who are running out of money. Yeah, we’re 29 days in. And they’ve done their best to make sure that a lot of these programs are funded,” he added. “But at some point, the government runs out of money. Thirteen times, people over here voted to fund SNAP. Thirteen times, they voted to fund WIC. I ache in the back. I finally realize this thing has consequences. Well, you know what? What Democrats are doing here, they’re making plans to keep the shutdown going.”
Senate Democrats have repeatedly held out in hopes of gaining legislative wishlist items, including an extension of Obama-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that are set to expire under the terms of the Democrat-passed “Inflation Reduction Act” under former President Joe Biden.
This strategy contradicts past statements made by prominent Democrats, however, almost all of whom have ripped Republican lawmakers for threatening government shutdowns under similar circumstances in the past.
“Republicans are once again taking orders from Donald Trump, hurting the American people and recklessly marching our nation to the brink of a shutdown… If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans who suffer most,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said when a number of conservative members of congress were threatening to vote against a clean CR last September.
“Republicans are trying to hijack a must-pass funding bill to force extreme policies on the American people… Democrats will not allow that. We need a clean CR to keep the government open,” he also said during a December 13, 2023 speech from the Senate floor.