John Thune: “my Democrat colleagues are at it again. They are on their second shutdown in 6 months, and in a few short days, a lot of…”

“my Democrat colleagues are at it again. They are on their second shutdown in 6 months, and in a few short days, a lot of government workers will be missing part of their paychecks again thanks to Senate Democrats. Well, let's just briefly review the 2026 fiscal year. At the start of the fiscal year, which is October 1 for the Federal Government, Democrats shut down the entire government for a staggering 43 days--the longest government shutdown in history--and by the time a handful of Democrat Senators agreed to end the shutdown, air travel was in chaos, essential programs had been affected, and many government employees had turned to loans, credit cards, and food banks to make ends meet, but even the worst government shutdown in history wasn't enough for Senate Democrats. Fast-forward now to January of this year. Democrats and Republicans in both Houses of Congress had agreed on a final Department of Homeland Security spending bill that included deescalation training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as $20 million for body cameras for ICE officers. But Democrats decided that wasn't enough, so Republicans and the White House agreed to reopen negotiations. Knowing that negotiation takes time, we suggested a temporary funding extension for several weeks, but Democrats insisted on no more than 2 weeks.…”