In politics, as it is with most things in life, there is a time for playing it calm, cool, and collected as you work to accomplish your mission, and then there is a time to take off the gloves – rhetorically speaking – and give the battle everything you’ve got in the court of public opinion.
It would appear that Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has reached that point, giving an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, the 29th day of the Schumer Shutdown, in which he at times was practically yelling at the Democrat side for voting 13 times to keep the government shut down as they seek to appease their far-left base on taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegals and an extension of the enhanced ACA subsidies.
SEE ALSO: Another Democrat Comes Clean on Schumer’s Shutdown and His Party’s Political Games
In a blistering response to a call from Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) to vote in favor of a bill to fund SNAP and WIC before funding runs out, Thune absolutely went off in objection, noting that Senate Democrats were playing with people’s lives and could end the drama and put the piecemeal funding measures to bed by simply voting in favor of the clean continuing resolution passed by the House on September 19th:
“Let me just point out, if I might, that we are 29 days into a Democrat shutdown,” Thune said in some of his most heated remarks to date, noting that Democrats have voted against a measure to reopen the government 13 times.
“We have tried to do that 13 times, and you voted no 13 times!” Thune shouted, pointing across the chamber at Lujan. “This isn’t a political game. These are real people’s lives that we are talking about. And you all have just figured out, 29 days in, oh, that there might be some consequences?”
[…]
“Thirteen times, people over here voted to fund SNAP. Thirteen times they voted to fund WIC,” Thune said of Republicans.
Thune said Democrats are “making plans to keep the shutdown going.”
“This bill is a cynical attempt to provide political cover for Democrats to allow them to carry on their government shutdown for the long term,” Thune said.
Watch:
🚨 HOLY SMOKES! Senate Leader John Thune just went BERSERK on Democrats. I have NEVER heard him like this.
“WE’VE TRIED TO DO THAT 13 TIMES! You voted NO, 13 TIMES!” *Looking at Dems*
“OH, ‘there MIGHT BE SOME CONSEQUENCES!’ ‘There are people running out of money!'”
“SNAP… pic.twitter.com/tzqbbQFkdE
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 29, 2025
Thune later said that Democrats were trying to “insulate themselves” because “Democrats don’t want the bad press of hungry Americans.” What wasn’t in Lujan’s bill, Thune observed, was pay for our troops, air traffic controllers, law enforcement officers, telehealth funding, etc.
In concluding his closing remarks, and with a picture behind him of Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) saying the quiet part out loud about how Democrats were using people in need as leverage during the Schumer Shutdown, Thune declared, “We’re not going to let them pick winners and losers. It’s time to fund everybody. And the bill sitting at the desk right there does that.”
“We just need five brave Democrats,” Thune added.
Watch:
Democrats have spent a month playing with people’s livelihoods because the far-left wing of their party won’t let them accept a clean, nonpartisan CR.
If they want to prevent damage from their shutdown, then they can end their shutdown. The bill is right there at the desk. pic.twitter.com/qtaLPzWL6b
— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) October 29, 2025
Not surprisingly, Sen. Lujan filed a Hurt Feelings Report in response to Thune telling it like it is:
Senator Lujan (D-NM) attempts to say that Thune broke decorum. This is how you know Thune has this guy on his heels.
Democrats are more than happy to keep the government shut down while talking about the cattle he supposedly helped raise as a child.
Completely unserious people. https://t.co/knpNY5WUp8 pic.twitter.com/bb7VckPXnL
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 29, 2025
“Completely unserious people” is an understatement, but yeah. Imagine thinking it was a good look to make a joke about manure and get upset about “Senate decorum” when people on these programs are just a few days away from not being able to afford to put a meal on the table for their families.
Again, the pain is the point for congressional Democrats in both chambers. Hopefully, at the ballot box in 2026, voters return the favor. Meanwhile, if the rumors about the Schumer Shutdown coalition in the Senate starting to crack are true, ultimately, Thune is going to have the last word on this one.
Democrats are on the ropes here. And they know it.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
Please help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
