Thune Joins Larry Kudlow on Fox Business

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Larry Kudlow on Fox Business.

On Congress' responsibility to fund the government:

"Nobody likes shutdowns. … Nobody gains from a shutdown, Larry. But the truth is, in this case, we've put before [Democrats] something they voted for 13 times when Biden was president and when the Democrats [had] the majority in the Senate - a short-term funding resolution to keep the government open while we consider, in this case, other appropriations bills to fund the government for the full year.

"This is very straightforward, but [Democrats] have decided to hijack it and make it about everything else on their agenda, most of which is … $1.5 trillion in new spending … [and] free health care available to noncitizens. This is what they've staked their claim on. And they're wrong …

"Hopefully the American people see through it and understand that we do have a clean funding resolution, something [Democrats] voted on 13 times in the past, and it will keep the government open.

"If [Democrats] want to have a conversation about some of these other issues, I've said we're open to that, but you've got to open up the government first."

On Democrats' shutdown hypocrisy:

"I think when the impact of this shutdown starts really being felt, I believe there are some Democrats who are going to say, 'You know, this isn't a good position for us to be in,' and come and work with us to keep the government open …

"We've told [Democrats] we'll have a conversation about … the ACA tax credits. Although that, in and of itself, is another issue that the Democrats created because they put the expiration date in place. They … expanded these … tax credits, in a way that was supposed to be responsive to covid; well, covid is no longer with us. So this is a problem of their own making, and now they want us to … bail them out of this mess. But we're not going to have that conversation until the government gets opened up."

On Democrats' manufactured crisis:

"The ACA tax credits are rife with fraud, waste, and abuse. They are subsidies to insurance companies - nothing more, nothing else. And there's no cap on income. I mean, you can make half a million dollars now, 600 grand in some places, and be eligible for federal assistance under this program. So it's desperately in need of reform …

"We want to make sure that people in this country have access to affordable health care. Obviously, people on Medicaid, Medicare … In the One Big Beautiful Bill, we made reforms to Medicaid to make sure it's there for the people who really need it. But for able-bodied adults who are gaming it and all these states who play these games and cover illegals, California being probably the best example of that, … take these provider taxes and, … get a higher FMAP from the federal government, get more federal money, and then rebate those taxes back to the providers, and then use the resources to cover illegals. That was what California was doing. That's what they got busted for.

"Now the Democrats, they want to put that all back in play … They're issues that … we think need to be addressed on behalf of the American people, but not in a way that is such a bad return for the American taxpayer, that actually is inflationary when it comes to health care costs and to premiums and insurance and everything else, in a way that honestly skews these programs toward people who, in the expanded population, are able-bodied adults, ought to be working, and ought to be able to get … other health care options available to them. So we're willing to have that conversation, Larry, but it doesn't fit here."

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