In an epic diatribe, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) slammed the Democrats for prolonging a 29-day government shutdown for their own cynical political gain, rejecting 13 Republican clean continuing resolutions (CRs) that would fund SNAP, WIC, and the entire government, raging with fury and shaking his finger at the Democrats as he did so.
Further, during the epic takedown, he called their SNAP-only funding bill a “cynical” admission of harm that provides cover to extend the shutdown. Thune used his colleagues to pass a clean CR, which President Trump would sign, restoring pay to TSA, air traffic controllers, troops, and others.
Speaking about his continual idea to restore government funding, he said, “We’ve tried to do that 13 times. You voted no 13 times. This isn’t a political game. These are real people’s lives we’re talking about…13 times people over here voted to fund SNAP, 13 times they voted to fund WIC.”
Clearly annoyed by the Democrats’ cynical game, Thune continued his rant. “I finally realize this thing has consequences…What Democrats are doing here. They’re making plans to keep the shutdown going, … 29 days in, that this is a real consequence, real life pain for American families, something that results from their shutdown,” the Republican noted.”
Predicting the Democrats’ next move, he suggested, “they’re going to propose a bill to fund food stamps during their shutdown. Mr. President, this request is a transparent admission that the Democrats want to keep the shutdown for what, another month longer? This bill is a cynical attempt to provide political cover for Democrats to allow them to carry on their government shutdown for the long term.”
Pivoting back to Trump’s decisive leadership, the South Dakota Senator kept going. “The Democrat leader said that President Trump could end this with a stroke of his pen, and he’s right… He’ll sign it into law, and the government opens up, and SNAP beneficiaries, including SNAP recipients, get food assistance. But you know what else? TSA workers get paid. Air traffic controllers get paid, border patrol agents get paid. Troops get paid,” he noted.
Listing out the seririous consequnves of inaction, he recounted how, “[These] are all the other programs that are affected, …National Guard training …Veterans transition assistance …Veterans Cemetery services … air traffic controllers, TSA officers, Capitol Police … NOAA employees who are tracking hurricanes … food inspectors … troops, Coast Guard, ICE, border patrol … federal wild land firefighters…CISA to prevent against cyber attacks, National Flood Insurance Program.”
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Building on this point, he noted that the Dems have the ability to end this crisis. “The bill at the desk takes care of all of it, funds SNAP, funds WIC, and yes, with the stroke of … the President’s pen, he can sign into law, and everybody starts getting paid again. This has got to stop hostage taking. …Why don’t we just open the government …I’ve never seen anything like this… we’re not going to pick winners and losers,” the conservative noted.
Watch the clip here:
Concluding his comments, Thune declared, “Democrats really want to fund SNAP and WIC? I have a bill for them sitting right there at the desk, a clean, non-partisan CR to fund SNAP, WIC, and the entire government… They can end the shutdown. The bill is right here.”
Featured image from embedded video