Press Releases
Thune: Democrats Must Come to their Senses, Stop Obstructing NDAA
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “It’s been a heavy week here in the United States Senate, with the tragic and unexpected passing of Senator Lindsey Graham. “Lindsey was a great American patriot. “He was a champion for the Republican Party. “And for many of us, he was a trusted and loyal friend and adviser. “And so, we mourn … Continue Reading
07.13.26
Thune Joins Fox News, CNN, and Newsmax to Reflect on Decades-Long Friendship With Senator Graham
Click here to watch Fox News, here to watch CNN, and here to watch Newsmax. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News, Inside Politics on CNN, and The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax. On Senator Graham’s legacy: “On a personal level, he was a very good friend to me … He came out to my first campaign, my first House campaign in 1996. And then the last couple of years, he’s been out in South Dakota with me, and we’ve been … Continue Reading
06.23.26
Thune: Republicans Work to Make Americans Safer and More Prosperous Ahead of America 250
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “This is an exciting season of our year. “We are heading up now on the 250th anniversary, a celebration for our country. “And I think I can say that we are very fortunate to live in the greatest land, in my view, in the history of the world. “And we can be enormously thankful and grateful to th… Continue Reading
06.16.26
Thune Joins Bret Baier on Fox News
Click here to watch. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Bret Baier on Fox News. On Jay Clayton’s nomination: “I hope he gets through this week … The confirmation hearing will happen tomorrow in the Intelligence Committee. They will report him out. We will take him up as soon as we can, but that will take some cooperation from Democrats. If they want to, they can slow-walk it … They can’t slow it down forever - we’ll get him on the floor - but if we want … Continue Reading
06.16.26
Thune: Democrats Must Stop Obstructing FISA Reauthorization, Help to Quickly Confirm Jay Clayton
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “Jay Clayton is an eminently qualified individual to become the new director of national intelligence, and so we are looking forward to processing him this week. “Chairman Cotton, they will be … having his confirmation hearing tomorrow … and hopefully reporting him out later in the week. “It wou… Continue Reading
06.10.26
Thune Joins Mornings With Maria and America’s Newsroom
Click here to watch Fox Business and here to watch Fox News. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Mornings With Maria on Fox Business and America’s Newsroom on Fox News. On FISA: “Here’s the issue: This is an irresponsible position for the Senate Democrats to take. The 702 program - first off, you had … air [traffic] control issues, then it was the border security issues, sanctuary cities. This is a party of defund the police, open borders, sanctuary citie… Continue Reading
06.09.26
Thune on Democrats Holding FISA Hostage
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “We have a saying around here that, if you don’t get national security right, the rest is just conversation. “And that’s certainly true with respect to some of the issues that we have in front of us right now. “The FISA legislation, which is pending here in the United States Senate, is critical … Continue Reading
06.09.26
Thune Joins Squawk Box on CNBC
Click here to watch. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Squawk Box on CNBC. On the Secure America Act: “We had to use [reconciliation] because Democrats wouldn’t fund ICE and [Border Patrol] through the normal appropriations process, so we had to do it with Republican-only votes. It got a little complicated along the way, but we were successful in defeating all the poison-pill amendments that would have taken it down. And this week, hopefully, the House … Continue Reading
06.02.26
Thune on Republicans’ Fight to Secure America
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “Last Thursday was the 102nd anniversary of the Border Patrol in this country. “And as we celebrate 250 years for America, I think it’s interesting to also observe that we have had an agency like … Border Patrol defending our borders now for over 100 years. “And if you think about what they’ve d… Continue Reading
05.20.26
Thune: Democrats Have Made Their Choice; Republicans Will Fund Border Security Despite Them
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “Mr. President, yesterday on the floor I discussed some of our accomplishments here in the Senate, and one of those accomplishments is restoring regular order consideration of appropriation bills. “Unfortunately, in fiscal year 2025, we were forced to do a full-year CR after the failures of the previous De… Continue Reading
05.19.26
Thune: Republicans Fight to Secure America
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “The former vice president said here recently that this is a moment when there are no bad ideas. “With all due respect to the former vice president, it seems to me, at least, to the Democrats, there’s no shortage of bad ideas. “And chief among those is this idea that they’re going to defund the … Continue Reading
05.13.26
Thune Joins the Hugh Hewitt Show
Click here to listen. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined The Hugh Hewitt Show. On the Working Families Tax Cuts: “[The Working Families Tax Cuts was] the most consequential thing I’ve done in my time in public life … We got the first entitlement reform we’ve gotten in my entire time in office … getting rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program, SNAP program, were historic in terms of their accomplishments … It included 100 pieces of legi… Continue Reading
05.12.26
Thune: Senate Republicans Work to Secure America
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “Well, good afternoon, everyone. “Most of us - or at least all of us here - and I think a lot of people this week are celebrating National Police Week. “It’s the week when we honor those who serve us in law enforcement. “And I think it’s safe to say that we need law enforcement officers in this… Continue Reading
04.22.26
Thune Joins America’s Newsroom on Fox News
Click here to watch. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News. On the War Powers Act: “I think that the Democrats … are almost cheering against American success in this region, which obviously strikes at the very heart of America’s national security interest. So it’s really unfortunate they continue to put up these show votes. The president is operating under his authority, the Article II branch of the government as commander in … Continue Reading
04.21.26
Thune: Republicans Stand With Law Enforcement, Reject Democrats’ Defund the Police Agenda
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “As you all know, the Senate this year has passed 11 of the 12 appropriations bills. “We did that in a way, we wanted to get back to regular order, and so we worked with Democrats - actually worked with Democrats on all 12. “And then, of course, at the last minute, the Democrats decided they did… Continue Reading
04.15.26
Thune Joins Fox News and Newsmax
Click here to watch Fox News and here to watch Newsmax. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Martha MacCallum on Fox News and Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax. On the Working Families Tax Cuts: “[T]he returns that are being filed this year, on average, the refunds are [nearly 20] percent higher than they were during the Biden administration. And if you’re somebody who claims a deduction for tipped income, overtime, or if you’re a senior who’s taking the new i… Continue Reading
04.14.26
Thune Joins Larry Kudlow on Fox Business
Click here to watch. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Larry Kudlow on Fox Business. On the Working Families Tax Cuts: “[P]eople this year who are filing tax returns, the average tax return this year is going to be 24 percent higher than it was during the Biden administration. And if you’re somebody … who claims a deduction for tips or overtime, or a senior who’s getting the benefit now of this increased deduction for Social Security, those returns are … Continue Reading
04.14.26
Thune: Republicans Won’t Let Democrats Defund Law Enforcement
Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “It is shameful what the Democrats have done to the Department of Homeland Security. “They have now, twice in this last year, forced people within the department to go without pay for extended periods of time. “Republicans have tried repeatedly, not only through the bipartisan appropriations pro… Continue Reading
04.02.26
Thune Joins America’s Newsroom on Fox News
Click here to watch. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News. On Democrats’ preposterous shutdown politics: “[For] Democrats … it was all about ‘reforms,’ restrictions on ICE and on CBP agents and what they could or couldn’t do. They got none of that. They got zero of the reforms that they were advocating for. In the end, this was all about their left-wing base demanding that no funding be provided. The good news for us is we sa… Continue Reading
04.01.26
Leader Thune, Speaker Johnson Statement on DHS Funding
WASHINGTON — This afternoon, Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson released a joint statement announcing a path forward to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security - including CBP and ICE - and end the record-long Democrat shutdown. “We appreciate and share the President’s determination to once and for all bring an end to the Democrat DHS shutdown. “In the coming days, Republicans in the Senate and House will be following through on the President’s directive by fully funding the ent… Continue Reading
