John Thune Speaks To Reporters After Johnson Ends House Session To Avoid Epstein Vote

Forbes Breaking News

6 months ago

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) holds the weekly Senate Republican leadership press briefing.

Transcript

00:00Afternoon, everyone.

00:02We're doing something this week in the Senate that is a bit unusual, that we haven't done in a while.

00:09We're actually teeing up an appropriations bill to vote on the floor and have an amendment process.

00:15We're going to try and get consent.

00:17We're going to be on the MilCon VA legislative appropriations bill,

00:20and then hoping that we can get consent to add a couple of other bills into the package

00:27so that we can be voting on appropriations bills for the first time in a long time.

00:31And the reason I say that is because, as you all know, last year when Chuck Schumer was running the Senate,

00:37the Appropriations Committee reported out 11 of the 12 appropriations bills, I should say,

00:44all with bipartisan support, and not a single one of them was put on the floor for a vote.

00:51So we're fixing to change that.

00:54We think that there ought to be a regular appropriations process around here.

00:58The Democrats have indicated, because they're so upset, over the rescissions bill last week,

01:03which, by the way, cut one-tenth of one percent of all federal spending,

01:08that somehow they can use that as an excuse to shut down the appropriations process

01:12and therefore shut down the government.

01:15We think that would be a big mistake, and hopefully they will think better of it and work with us.

01:20And we're trying to give them what they've been asking for, is a bipartisan appropriations process,

01:26which, frankly, I think a lot of us around here think is long overdue.

01:29The other thing I want to mention quickly is the nominations process.

01:34Obviously, there's been a lot of conversations around that here lately,

01:37and the thing that strikes me, again, about the Democrats' behavior relative to nominations

01:43is a little data point, and that data point is that President Trump will be the first president in history,

01:50in history, not to have a single one of his nominees confirmed either by voice vote or unanimous consent,

01:59which is typically what happens around here, particularly with nominees that have pretty broad bipartisan support,

02:06which a lot of these nominees that we're trying to advance do.

02:10So this is clearly an attempt to block and delay and obstruct.

02:15It is an example of Trump derangement syndrome on steroids,

02:21and it's unfortunate because there are a lot of people out there who've been nominated to positions,

02:25and positions in our government that, frankly, need to be filled.

02:28They're important positions that need to be filled,

02:30and the Democrats continue to try and delay and obstruct.

02:33So we're going to keep grinding and work as hard as we can on the Republican side

02:38if we're not going to get any cooperation from the Democrats to get the president's team in place.

02:43Do you expect to cut short the August recess in order to, on the president's request, process these nominations,

02:51and the difficulty we're facing on appropriations?

02:54It looks like it's going to be a meat grinder to get the 60 votes you need on each of these bills.

03:00Are we looking at another CR situation in September?

03:04Well, I would say that's going to be, I think, largely up to the Democrats.

03:09I hope we can get 60 votes, yes.

03:11It's not easy around here getting 60 votes on anything,

03:13but we've said before that if there's anything in the Senate that ought to be bipartisan,

03:17it's the appropriations process and getting back to regular order on that.

03:22So we'll see where the votes are.

03:24At this point, I'm hesitant to predict that.

03:27And with respect to the August recess, that really is a function of, again,

03:32whether or not the Democrats are willing to cooperate

03:34and help us get some of these nominees through the pipeline.

03:37So we're keeping those options on the table, you know, honestly,

03:42because there's just a lot of stuff we have to get done.

03:43As you know, Republicans are deeply divided

03:47over Jeffrey Epstein, Speaker Johnson shut down the House,

03:50Florida were dealing with it.

03:51What do you think the Senate should do here,

03:53especially now that the Oversight Committee in the House subpoenaed

03:55or wants to of Lane Maxwell?

03:57Well, I've said this before, and I will defer to our committee chairs,

04:01but as a personal matter, I've said this,

04:04I believe that the President and the Attorney General

04:06will make the right decisions there with regard to that.

04:10But again, if we have committee chairs who think it makes sense,

04:14then I'll leave that to their discretion.

04:18What do you say to some of your members who now want a new part

04:21of a big, beautiful bill, such as the Medicaid concept,

04:23and the cashback, is that going to happen?

04:25No.

04:27The big, beautiful bill, and once we get an opportunity to get out there

04:31and talk about it, I think is going to be a big winner

04:34with the American people.

04:35And there are component parts of it that are,

04:38I think they're going to be hugely popular.

04:41And as I've said before, the target of this was middle-income families,

04:45working Americans, and I think they are going to be the biggest beneficiaries

04:49of the benefits of this bill.

04:52And I think we're going to have an opportunity, hopefully,

04:54to get out and start talking about it.

04:56Their views on that are going to be, I think our views on that are going

05:00to be confirmed by what the American people think.

05:03So, but on that particular issue, there are members out there who are saying

05:08we'd like to do this or that differently, that's always the case.

05:11This was a big piece of legislation that had a lot of moving parts.

05:15Not everybody got everything they wanted, but at the end of the day,

05:18it's historic in its breadth and the things that it addresses,

05:23from border security to national security to energy dominance

05:26to tax relief for working families to historic savings in terms

05:31of the budget reforms that we made.

05:34Those are all things that are long overdue.

05:36And I think those things are all, in the end, as we get into,

05:40get out there to talk about it, are going to be very popular

05:42with the American people.

05:44They're good.

05:45Could I ask, is there, realistically, is the sanctions bill

05:47that Graham has likely to get a vote before recess,

05:49given all these nominations and other things that you guys have?

05:52It would be, it's, as you can tell, and I've said this before,

05:55but the coin of the realm in the Senate is floor time.

05:58There's a finite amount of it, and obviously it takes a lot of time

06:02to do anything around here, which we're going to find out now

06:04when we try to move on the appropriations process,

06:07and the nominations are also a very high priority for us.

06:10But Russia's sanctions, when it's ready to go,

06:13with the right bi-pars and support, which I think exists,

06:17there are 85 co-sponsors on that bill,

06:19we ought to be able to expedite consideration of that on the floor.

06:22And I'm ready to do that.

06:24Again, we're working, trying to coordinate with the White House

06:27to ensure that when we do it, we do it at a time that makes sense

06:30in terms of their negotiations to try and facilitate a peaceful outcome

06:35with respect to Ukraine and Russia.

06:37So it's on the, it's on, it's on our radar screen,

06:41and when it's time to go, we'll be ready to go.

06:43Thank you all.

06:44Are you committed to opening the house?

06:46No, no, no.

06:47Sure you can do.

06:47No, no.

06:48Thank you all.

John Thune Speaks To Reporters After Johnson Ends House Session To Avoid Epstein Vote

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