Thune: Democrats Are the Party of No

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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, if there’s one thing that quickly became clear at the start of the 119th Congress, it was that anything we were going to accomplish for hardworking Americans we were going to have to accomplish alone. “There’s always some partisanship in Congress, Mr. President – and healthy disagreement – but it became clear very quickly that Democrats were going to be taking partisanship to a new and rarefied level in the 119th Congress. “That started with presidential nominations. “It’s long been standard practice in the Senate to expedite uncontroversial nominations to allow a president to get his team in place. “But from the very beginning of the 119th Congress, Democrats made clear that this history of bipartisan cooperation was over. “Democrats chose to slow down every single nomination – no matter how uncontroversial – for the majority of the 119th Congress. “But slow-walking nominations, Mr. President, was just the beginning. “At the top of our priority list for this Congress was preventing the massive tax hike that was set to hit hardworking Americans. “And for a party that claims to be the party of working men and women, you would think that Democrats would have been eager to work with us. “They weren’t. “And not only were they not interested in working with us, but every single Democrat – in both houses of Congress – voted against tax relief for the American people. “They voted against preventing a massive tax hike. “And they voted against all the new tax relief Republicans implemented – from no tax on overtime, to a new bonus deduction for seniors. “And just in case you thought Democrat opposition was a matter of high-minded principle … Since Republicans passed the Working Families Tax Cuts, a number of Democrats have tried to associate themselves with some of the tax relief in the bill, despite universally opposing the legislation in Congress. “And the partisanship continues. “Last week, Mr. President, the Senate attempted to take up legislation on the issue of great importance to working families – namely, energy prices. “The legislation we tried to take up – the Ratepayer Protection Act – would have protected hardworking Americans from the increased energy costs associated with data centers. “The bill was so obviously commonsense that it passed the House overwhelmingly – with almost every Democrat as well as Republican supporting it. “But in the Senate, Mr. President? “Senate Democrats objected to passing the bill, and so it failed. “Presumably Democrats wanted to deny Republicans the legislative success in the leadup to the elections – even though hardworking Americans are the ones that are going to pay the price. “The same thing happened yesterday. “Republicans and the White House have been negotiating for the better part of a year with Democrats over permitting reform legislation – a long-overdue priority that would help lower energy bills for American families by streamlining federal regulations for energy projects. “And we closed a deal with them that we could bring to the floor that incorporated essentially all of the Democrats’ demands. “But when it began to look like we could consider the bill this work period, Democrats changed their tune. “Because while they may acknowledge the need for permitting reform, what they really care about is denying Republicans another legislative win. “Mr. President, this is an example of, again, just blatant partisanship. “Republicans and Democrats have been working for months – on a bipartisan basis, with two committees of jurisdiction: the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the two committees that have jurisdiction over all of the elements related to permitting reform. “And I’ve had Democrats come up to me on the floor countless times and say, ‘We really want to get this done. We’re working together. If the White House would work with us on this or that …’ “And so, we communicated with the White House; the White House has been engaged in these conversations and discussions for the past several weeks. “And essentially gave the Democrats the things they were asking for. “Democrats can’t take yes for an answer! “It’s like they caught the car, Mr. President, and they don’t know what to do. “They said, ‘we want to work on this,’ because permitting reform affects not just energy projects, but projects in every sector of the economy. “Energy projects, of course, obviously – both conventional energy and renewable energy projects – are being affected by the delays and the bureaucracy and the red tape and the excessive litigation that comes with trying to do anything in this country of major consequence. “And so both sides had agreed that this was a worthwhile objective – ‘Let’s work together, let’s see if we can sit down and hammer out a compromise that incorporates the concerns, the issues that both sides bring to the table.’ “And that’s been going on for months! “I’ve been watching it. Getting regular readouts. Talking to members on both sides, Democrats and Republicans, on both committees of jurisdiction – and others who are interested in this issue. “And we get to a point, Mr. President, where Democrats flat can’t take yes for an answer. “So, why is that? “Well, if you agree on the substance, if you come to an agreement on the policy – which they had … “I mean, everybody in these negotiations and these discussions had basically said, ‘Okay, this is the deal, here’s the counteroffer.’ Counteroffer back, counteroffer back. “The last counteroffer from the Democrats was agreed to by the White House, by our Senate Republicans – [Democrats] couldn’t take yes for an answer. “So the only conclusion one can draw, Mr. President, is that the Democrats have concluded that it’s good politics for them not to allow the Republicans to ‘get a victory’ or the president to ‘get a victory’ in the middle of a political season. “That’s really the only conclusion you can draw. “After literally months and months and months of bipartisan negotiations in which the very last offer put on the table was one made by Democrats and accepted by the White House and Senate Republicans. “That’s where we are. That’s what it is. Let’s call it what it is: blatant politics. “So Mr. President, my Democrat colleagues may talk a good game about working families, but the truth is that hardworking Americans take a distant back seat to Democrats’ political priorities. “Mr. President, perhaps the most spectacular example of the Party of No came last fall, when Democrats shut down the government for 43 days – the longest full government shutdown in history – over a clean, temporary, and nonpartisan spending bill. “That’s right. “It was clear that Congress would need more time to get the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills finished. “So Republicans proposed a clean, short-term funding measure free from poison pills or partisan policies – let’s just fund the government so we can continue the conversation about how we’re going to fund it for the full year. “And Democrats? “Well, they just said no. “Not gonna do it. “It didn’t matter to them that the bill was nonpartisan. “It didn’t matter to them that it would only be in effect, actually, for a few weeks. “And it certainly didn’t matter to them that they were putting thousands of Americans out of work. “They blocked it – a clean, nonpartisan spending bill – and they shut down the government. “For six weeks. “Of course, the fall 2025 government shutdown wasn’t the only time this Congress that Democrats just said no to government funding. “In the spring, Senate Democrats initiated the longest partial government shutdown in history due to their unwillingness to fund immigration law enforcement or border security. “That’s right, Mr. President. “The Democrats kept the Department of Homeland Security – the Department of Homeland Security – shut down for an unprecedented 76 days. “And while they eventually agreed to reopen most of the department, they still refused to fund immigration enforcement or Border Patrol. “Clearly Democrat Socialism – and its philosophy of zero immigration enforcement and open borders – has gained a lot more than a foothold in the Democrat Party. “Mr. President, whether the subject is protecting opportunities for women and girls in sports or tax relief for hardworking Americans, Democrats have spent the past 21 months throwing up every roadblock that they can. “And I’m proud that despite the incredible amount of Democrat opposition, we’ve still managed to accomplish a lot for the American people – from regulatory relief and border security to the Working Families Tax Cuts. “There’s more work to be done, and I hope we’ll get the chance to continue our work not only in this Congress, but also in the next. “Given the Democrats’ obsession with opposing President Trump and their demonstrated opposition to bipartisan cooperation, I think it’s safe to say that hardworking Americans would undoubtedly take a back seat in a Democrat-led Congress. “And the American people, Mr. President? “They deserve better than the Party of No.”