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Thune’s SD SIte
The Leader Board • Remarks
November 2nd, 2026

Republicans Delivered for the American People This Congress

Having Pledged to Undo the Damage of the Biden Years and Give Hardworking Americans More Opportunity, Senate Republicans Accomplished What They Set Out to Do

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 119TH CONGRESS, SENATE REPUBLICANS PROMISED TO RIGHT THE POLICY FAILURES OF CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS AND THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

“We have a lot to do this Congress… Extending the tax relief Republicans delivered during the first Trump administration.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (1/3/25)

  • Set to expire at the end of 2025, “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act [TCJA] lowered taxes for most U.S. households, experts said. The legislation was broad, benefiting Americans across the income spectrum…” (CNBC: ‘Reverse Robin Hood scam’ or windfall for middle class? Lawmakers debate Trump tax plan extensions – 3/3/25)
  • At the start of 2025, Republicans set out to prevent a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people and a $2.6 trillion tax hike on households earning less than $400,000 per year. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Chairman Crapo Releases Finance Committee Reconciliation Text – 6/16/25; U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo: Republicans are United in Delivering Trump’s Pro-Growth Agenda – 4/4/25; The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Republicans Reconcile on Taxes – 2/14/25)

“Lifting burdensome and expensive government regulations to help American businesses – and families – flourish.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (1/3/25)

  • “According to the aggregated collection of self-reported estimates from federal agencies, the cumulative total of regulatory costs under the Biden Administration added up to more than $1.8 trillion – far exceeding any preceding administration on record.” (American Action Forum: The Biden Regulatory Record – 1/29/25)

“[O]ne of the most important issues in this last election was the illegal immigration crisis… To begin with, the border security policies we expect President Trump to implement will need to be fully funded to maximize their effectiveness.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (1/8/25)

  • During President Biden’s tenure, there were 10.5 million migrant encounters along the southwest border, including known gotaways. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Southwest Land Border Encounters – accessed 11/2/26; Fox News’ Bill Melugin: post on X – 8/20/24)
  • Illegal border crossings hit record levels under Biden, averaging 2 million per year from 2021 to 2023. (The Washington Post: Trump vs. Biden on immigration: 12 charts comparing U.S. border security – 2/12/24)

REPUBLICANS SUCCEEDED IN LOWERING TAXES FOR ALL AMERICANS, REPEALING COSTLY DEMOCRAT REGULATIONS AND SPENDING, AND DELIVERING THE MOST SECURE BORDER IN MODERN HISTORY 

  • Republicans delivered on their signature promise by passing the landmark Working Families Tax Cuts law, delivering a meaningful tax cut to all Americans, an increase to the TCJA’s boosted standard deduction claimed by the vast majority of taxpayers, an increased child tax credit, and more:
    • The law increases the standard deduction from TCJA levels by $750 for single filers, $1,125 for heads of household, and $1,500 for married filers; makes these increases permanent; and indexes future increases to inflation so its value never goes down. The child tax credit is also increased by $200 per child, made permanent, and indexed to inflation. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Working Families Tax Cuts – accessed 11/2/26)
    • This past tax season, “[o]ver 127 million filers (90% of all tax filers) have claimed the permanently doubled standard deduction, simplifying tax filing for millions across America.”
    • “97% of filers received a tax cut this past filing season, who would have otherwise owed taxes absent the Working Families Tax Cuts” and “96% of filers receiving a tax cut earned less than $200,000.”
    • “Nearly 40 million families have claimed the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which is permanently doubled and expanded by the Working Families Tax Cuts.” (U.S. Department of the Treasury: A Look at the First-Year Results of the Working Families Tax Cuts – 7/2/26)
  • To reverse the unprecedented regulatory burden imposed by the Biden administration, Senate Republicans have passed 25 Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval to undo harmful energy, environmental, and public lands rules – including the repeal of the California electric vehicle (EV) mandate. Of these, 23 have become law. (American Action Forum: Congressional Review Act Tracker for the 119th Congress – accessed 11/2/26)
    • The Senate also passed a rescissions package last year cutting $9 billion of wasteful spending, the first to be signed into law in 30 years. (The Wall Street Journal: Congress Approves Trump’s Plan Clawing Back Foreign Aid, Public Media Funding – 7/18/25)
  • As part of the Working Families Tax Cuts law, Republicans successfully secured $170 billion “for immigration enforcement and border security efforts,” including “$46.5 billion to complete construction of the border wall” and “$4.1 billion to hire additional CBP personnel, including 3,000 more customs officers and 3,000 new Border Patrol agents.” (CBS News: Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” gives ICE unprecedented funds to ramp up mass deportation campaign – 7/10/25; U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Secretary Noem Commends President Trump and One Big Beautiful Bill Signing into Law: Historic Win for the American People and the Rule of Law – 7/4/25)
    • “The Border Patrol, which completed its first-ever fiscal year with no releases, recorded less than 99,000 southwest border apprehensions in FY 2026—a 95% decline compared with more than 1.8 million per year under President Biden.” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS announces lowest fiscal year border crossings in American history – 10/16/26)
    • “That translates to about 270 apprehensions a day across the southwest border, compared with roughly 5,000 using the department’s Biden-era annual average.” (Fox News: Former Border Patrol chief recalls Biden migrant surge chaos as Trump crackdown delivers historic turnaround – 10/16/26)

SENATE REPUBLICANS ALSO PASSED LEGISLATION ADDRESSING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME, DRUG AND INTERNET CRIME, FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CRYPTOCURRENCY REGULATION, AND MORE

  • 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: “Excessive regulations are contributing to the housing affordability crisis. On average, regulations imposed by government at all levels account for nearly 25% of the price of building a single-family home and more than 40% of the cost of a typical multifamily development.” (National Association of Home Builders: Federal Regulatory Reform – accessed 11/2/26)
  • To tackle the rising cost of housing, the Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to lower costs by expanding the supply of all types of housing through reducing onerous and unnecessary regulations to new home building while protecting taxpayers from increased government spending. (U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act – accessed 11/2/26; H.R. 6644: Roll Call Vote #182 – 6/22/26)
  • Laken Riley Act: Named for Laken Riley, “a nursing student who was killed during a jog on the University of Georgia’s campus by an illegal immigrant,” the act was “the first piece of legislation to become law” in the second Trump administration.
    • “The measure, which advanced through the House and Senate in January [2025], directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer. The law also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.” (Fox News: Trump signs Laken Riley Act into law as first legislative victory in new administration – 1/29/25)
  • HALT Fentanyl Act: To address the fentanyl crisis exacerbated by the Biden administration’s open-border policies, the law “classifies fentanyl copycats as Schedule I drugs… Fentanyl-like substances already [had] a Schedule I classification, allowing law enforcement to impose stiff penalties on their production and sale, but the classification [was] temporary.” (Washington Examiner: Democrats to hand Trump second legislative win with Senate fentanyl vote – 3/6/25)
  • On July 16, 2025, “surrounded by families who have lost loved ones to the scourge of fentanyl, President Donald J. Trump officially signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law… As President Trump said, the legislation is ‘delivering another defeat for the savage drug smugglers and criminals and the cartels’ — and is just one of the many historic actions the Trump Administration has taken to end the carnage wrought by foreign drug cartels in our communities.” (White House: President Trump Signs HALT Fentanyl Act into Law – 7/16/26)
  • TAKE IT DOWN Act: The Senate unanimously passed Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) bill to criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, which President Trump signed into law on May 19, 2025. (Sen. Cruz: Cruz-Klobuchar Bill to Protect Teenagers from Deepfake ‘Revenge Porn’ Unanimously Passes the Senate – 2/13/25;White House: ICYMI: President Trump Signs TAKE IT DOWN Act into Law – 5/19/25)
  • GENIUS Act: President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in July 2025, creating the first-ever regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. (White House: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Signs GENIUS Act into Law – 7/18/26)
  • Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act: On September 18, 2026, President Trump signed the bill named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) into law, providing for new sanctions on Russia’s war machine and extending sanctions on Iran. (U.S. Congress: H.R.5334 – Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 – accessed 11/2/26; White House: Congressional Bill H.R. 5334 Signed into Law – 9/18/26)
  • Protect College Sports Act: On September 28, 2026, the Senate passed legislation to “end the disorder facing college athletics by establishing nationwide standards for name, image, and likeness (NIL), transfers, eligibility, and enforcement.” (U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation: Committee Releases Revised Protect College Sports Act – 8/4/26; S. 4668: Roll Call Vote #250 – 9/28/26)

SENATE REPUBLICANS ALSO ENSURED PRESIDENT TRUMP GOT HIS CABINET AND KEY NOMINEES IN PLACE, OVERCOMING UNPRECEDENTED DEMOCRAT OBSTRUCTION IN THE PROCESS

“We will work to ensure each nominee has a fair process without unnecessary delays or obstruction. And we will confirm those nominees swiftly so the Trump-Vance administration can hit the ground running.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (1/8/25)

  • From the get-go, Senate Republicans worked diligently to confirm President Trump’s nominations, starting with the fastest Cabinet confirmation in over 20 years.
    • President Trump’s Cabinet was in place earlier than in his first administration and those of Presidents Biden and Obama. Less than one month after President Trump took office, Senate Republicans had already confirmed 16 Cabinet officials, more than double the amount confirmed at that point in the Biden administration. (Senate Majority Leader: Senate Republicans Continue Pushing Past Democrats to Confirm President Trump’s Nominees – 2/13/25; Senate Majority Leader: Senate Republicans’ First 100 Days Marked by Accomplishment After Accomplishment – 4/11/25)
  • In September 2025, the entire Senate Republican conference united to reform Senate rules, restoring the historical practice of confirming large batches of lower-level presidential nominations. Now, the Senate has confirmed 390 civilian nominees via batches or voice vote, accounting for 64% of total civilian confirmations.
    • After the fifth en bloc package of nominations was confirmed in August, the Senate had confirmed the highest proportion of available civilian nominations in at least 25 years. (The Hill: Senate Republicans tee up final vote on 48 Trump nominees after changing rules – 9/17/25; U.S. Congress: President Donald Trump Civilian Nominations (2025-2026) – accessed 11/2/26; U.S. Congress: President Joe Biden Civilian Nominations (2021-2022) – accessed 11/2/26; U.S. Congress: President Donald Trump Civilian Nominations (2017-2018) – accessed 11/2/26; U.S. Congress: President Barack Obama Civilian Nominations (2009-2010) – accessed 11/2/26)
  • The Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee have moved at record speed to advance Article III judicial nominations – processing, advancing, and confirming circuit judges more than three times as fast as during the Obama administration and district judges nearly three times as fast as during the first Trump administration.
    • The current pace of Article III confirmations exceeds the speed of confirmation of every administration since the Reagan administration. (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Grassley Opens Senate Judiciary Committee Nominations Hearing, Highlights Historic Pace of Judicial Confirmations – 6/24/26)
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