John Thune: “I think he's made it clear for a long time that he would prefer one big, beautiful bill, and we're fine with that too.”

I just think, if you’re looking at issues that we want to get at the heart of what everybody seems to be saying, the Democrats and others are saying, are important, we're concerned about.

It shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Odds are we plan on being here next week," said Thune.

The only conclusion one can draw is that the Democrats have concluded that it is 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.