{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0C5466F8-C83C-4CBD-B7A2-09FC1CCEF2C5", "Thune: Schumer Shutdown Day 30", "2025-10-30", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Clickhereto watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as delivered):\n\n\u201cMr. President, Democrats are grasping at straws these days.\n\n\u201cThe other day the Democrat leader came to the floor and tried to reboot the notion that the clean CR sitting before us here in the Senate is a partisan CR.\n\n\u201cYep.\n\n\u201cApparently a bill with no partisan add-ons, strictly a bill to fund the government, is a partisan bill.\n\n\u201cOnly in Democrat land, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThe Democrat leader, of course, continues to try to push this ludicrous narrative that Republicans \u2013 or President Trump \u2013 shut down the government.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right.\n\n\u201cThe party that demanded nothing \u2013 and put forward a clean, nonpartisan bill \u2013 is the party that shut down the government.\n\n\u201cAnd the party that demanded $1.5 trillion to keep the government open until Friday, until Halloween?\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what their bill would do \u2013 $1.5 trillion in new spending to keep the federal government open until Friday.\n\n\u201cI wonder if Democrats have seen some of the recent headlines like this one, and I quote: \u2018Benefits cliff amps up pressure on Senate Democrats\u2019 and \u2018Largest federal workers union calls for an end to the shutdown, putting pressure on Democrats.\u2019\n\n\u201cPutting pressure on Democrats, Mr. President. Not Republicans.\n\n\u201cWhy?\n\n\u201cBecause Republicans are ready to reopen the government today.\n\n\u201cAnd we\u2019re not demanding a single thing in exchange.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the Democrats who are refusing.\n\n\u201cIn fact, the Democrats\u2019 latest ploy is \u2013 get this \u2013 moral outrage that the president isn\u2019t stepping in to save Democrats from the consequences of their actions.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are outraged \u2013 outraged \u2013 that they are coming face-to-face with the consequences of their decision to shut down the government.\n\n\u201cAnd so they\u2019re flailing around, blaming President Trump for not stepping in to somehow save the SNAP program from running out of money to pay benefits.\n\n\u201cYeah, that\u2019s right, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThe very same people who were content to let the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children \u2013 more commonly known as WIC \u2013 run dry are now positioning themselves as crusaders for nutrition benefits.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump did step in to save Democrats from themselves on WIC.\n\n\u201cHe somehow managed to find money to cover the program for the time being.\n\n\u201cBut there is a limit to what he can do.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s kind of the reason we like to, you know, have the government open.\n\n\u201cBut apparently Democrats are still not willing to contemplate allowing the government to function.\n\n\u201cBecause the SNAP bill that they tried to UC yesterday was not just a cynical political ploy to insulate themselves from the consequences of their own actions, it was also a disturbing signal that Democrats are ready to continue this shutdown \u2013 I guess forever.\n\n\u201cDo Democrats have any \u2013 any \u2013 end date in sight?\n\n\u201cAre there any consequences bad enough to get Democrats to reopen the government again?\n\n\u201cBecause things are getting pretty serious here, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThis shutdown had consequences from day one.\n\n\u201cBut now, 30 days in, the consequences are really snowballing.\n\n\u201cHere are some headlines, I think, that describe the situation.\n\n\u201c\u2018Government shutdown could lead to $14B in lost GDP, CBO reports\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Shutdown could close Head Start programs this week, jeopardizing child care\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Shutdown crushes small business owners as losses hit billions \u2014 industry leaders beg Congress for \u201cclean CR\u201d\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Ongoing government shutdown threatens holiday travel \u2026\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018National Guard Training Grinds To Halt Amid Shutdown \u2014 With No Pay In Sight\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018US government shutdown: 60,000 aviation safety staff face financial strain as crisis deepens\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Largest federal workers union calls for \u201cclean\u201d bill to end shutdown\u2019\n\n\u201cThose, Mr. President, are just a sampling of the headlines out there, and they represent the consequences as the Democrats\u2019 shutdown accelerates.\n\n\u201cSo when will Democrats put an end to this, Mr. President?\n\n\u201cWhen the economy is in ruins?\n\n\u201cWhen federal workers have lost their homes?\n\n\u201cWhen housing assistance and small business loans and Head Start and National Guard training are distant memories?\n\n\u201cI hope the pain of the American people is worth the plaudits the Democrats are getting from their liberal base.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I don\u2019t know if listing out the consequences of Democrats\u2019 shutdown moves any Democrats anymore, I really don\u2019t.\n\n\u201cIn fact, more than one member of their party \u2013 way more than one member of their party \u2013 has described using the pain of the American people as \u2018leverage.\u2019\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you an example of some of the things that they\u2019ve been saying.\n\n\u201cStarting with the Democrat leader: \u2018Every day gets better for us.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe whip, the number two position among House Democrats, says \u2018there will be families that are going to suffer \u2026 but it was one of the \u2026 few leverage times that we have.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe senator from New Mexico: paying our troops \u2018gives the president more leverage.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a really good reason not to pay the troops, right?\n\n\u201cThe senator from Arizona, asked about it, said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019d just go back and shut it down again.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe senator from Delaware: \u2018Frankly, this is our only moment of leverage. And although a very \u2026 unpleasant tool to use.\u2019\n\n\u201cYeah, it\u2019s unpleasant, alright, if you\u2019re a worker who\u2019s lost their job, that\u2019s not getting paid.\n\n\u201cAnd of course, the senator from Vermont: \u2018you reopen the government, we lose our leverage.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all about leverage.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what they\u2019re making it all about: leverage.\n\n\u201cSo the question is, When are the American people going to matter more than their leverage, Mr. President?\n\n\u201cIf there are any Democrats out there who can still see beyond the demands of their far-left base \u2013 if there are any Democrats who care about the damage that this shutdown is doing \u2013 then I have a bill right there at the desk:\n\n\u201cA clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution to fund WIC, SNAP, troop pay, air traffic controller pay, farm programs, housing assistance, our national defense, and every single other government priority.\n\n\u201cWe just need five Democrats to show some courage and join the three Democrats who are already with us, and we can get this government open.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s all it takes, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cEverybody knows that, in the Senate, it takes 60 votes to do anything.\n\n\u201cDemocrats come down here and consistently say, \u2018Well, Republicans have control of the Senate, the House, the White House.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd the Republicans in the Senate, the House, and the White House are all agreed: Open up the government.\n\n\u201cBut you can\u2019t do that in the Senate unless you have 60 votes \u2013 meaning we have to have a few Democrats.\n\n\u201cWe have a few already.\n\n\u201cWe need five Democrats with a backbone.\n\n\u201cFive Democrats with the courage to take on that far-left base and say, \u2018We care more about the lives of the American people than about gaining some political leverage.\u2019\n\n\u201cJust takes five, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cEnough is enough.\n\n\u201cI urge my Democrat colleagues to agree to reopen the federal government \u2013 and to do it today.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0C5466F8-C83C-4CBD-B7A2-09FC1CCEF2C5"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4944688882678747, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}