John Thune
03/05/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/05/2026 17:54
Thune Joins America’s Newsroom on Fox News
Thune Joins America's Newsroom on Fox News
"The Democrats are … playing with fire here, and they need to come to their senses and come to the conclusion that we need to … put people back to work, open up these agencies, and let them continue with the mission that they're tasked with."
March 5, 2026
Click here to watch the interview.
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined America's Newsroom on Fox News.
On Democrats' DHS shutdown:
"The ball's really in the Democrats' court … these are agencies that defend the homeland. That's the Department of Homeland Security. It is the Coast Guard, it is the TSA, it is FEMA, it is cybersecurity. The Democrats have made a conscious decision to shut that down … We're 20 days into this right now. A lot of these people aren't getting paid. We live in a dangerous world.
"The Democrats are … playing with fire here, and they need to come to their senses and come to the conclusion that we need to get beyond this and put people back to work, open up these agencies, and let them continue with the mission that they're tasked with."
On the War Powers Resolution:
"Most Democrats in the chamber decided to vote against our troops and against America's interests. And even if you believe the War Powers is constitutional - and that's a very debatable, valid question - it doesn't require the president to notify Congress until 60 days … so the president is perfectly within his constitutional authority under Article II to take this action to defend and protect America's national security interests. [The administration is] doing that with great success.
"We ought to be cheering our troops on [and] praying for their safety, rather than getting out there and demagoguing this and turning it into a political issue, which is what the Democrats in the Senate are doing."
On energy costs:
"I think we're always concerned about rising gas prices. And obviously what the president has done through his energy policies has made America more energy independent. If this had happened … 10, 20, 30 years ago, gas prices would be through the roof … It's going to be a manageable thing and we're going to continue to increase American production of energy so that we drive that gas price down and not make ourselves dependent upon sources of energy from outside of the United States, and particularly places like the Middle East that can be very unstable."
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