John Thune

06/03/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/03/2025 15:06

Thune Joins The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox Radio

Thune Joins The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox Radio

"One thing we do know is when you reduce taxes and cut regulations and have … an abundant energy supply in this country, the economy grows and expands, and that's where you start seeing these deficits get a lot smaller by comparison."

June 3, 2025

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox Radio.

On pro-growth policies:

"[W]hen you have growth in the economy, government revenues go up. And then if you start bending the spending curve down in the right direction, you can start getting to where it's closer to balance …

"[T]he question I think your people want to know is, will it add to the deficit? We are running deficits, and the deficits right now are unacceptably high. But will this lead to higher deficits? The answer to that is no.

"You're going to get growth in the economy, and when the economy, again, is growing and expanding, you get more government revenue. Add to that the almost a couple trillion dollars in cuts that are in the bill, and you have the most significant reduction in spending and biggest amount of savings in history in this legislation.

"[I]f you look at CBO … they have a long history of just flat being wrong… [O]ver the past seven years, when … they scored the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the economy grew 5 percent more than what they projected, revenues were $1.5 trillion higher than what they projected in 2017. And when … the Democrats passed their so-called Inflation Reduction Act last year, CBO missed the mark on energy provisions by about 400 percent. I mean, these guys … are notorious for missing on these projections.

"One thing we do know is when you reduce taxes and cut regulations and have … an abundant energy supply in this country, the economy grows and expands, and that's where you start seeing these deficits get a lot smaller by comparison."

On budget reconciliation:

"[T]he president is very committed to getting this done, Brian, and so he's sitting down with lots of different folks, and I had the chance to sit down with him yesterday and kind of walk through where I think things are in the Senate and also kind of what our vote count looks like …

"[T]he president, obviously, is incredibly effective at bringing people on board to his position, and we need to … have him fully engaged with senators as we go through the next few weeks, in hopes that we get something across the finish line here in the Senate that the House can take up and pass and put on the president's desk by the Fourth of July, which as you know, has been the goal."

On strengthening entitlement programs:

"[W]e are strengthening and reforming Medicaid … [T]here are people in this country that need the help, and those are the people that you want - you've got pregnant moms and disabled and elderly and people who depend upon Medicaid. But you've got a lot of people benefitting from Medicaid today - able-bodied adults; you've got a lot of illegals who are on Medicaid, have been added to the rolls by states around the country.

"And so I think what we're doing is making sure that Medicaid is there for the people it's designed to be there for and rooting out the waste, fraud, and abuse from people who are taking advantage of it. But I think in the end, it's about making Medicaid more effective and more efficient for those who need it …

"We've got some [members] on different sides of this issue, but at the end of the day, it's all about making this program stronger and directing it to the people who … it's supposed to help."

On a rescissions package:

"These rescissions bills are ways in which we can find additional savings, largely on the discretionary side of the budget. You know, reconciliation is about the mandatory side. And I know it's a distinction that's lost on people who don't follow this stuff closely, but there are two categories of spending and rescissions deals with the one category and reconciliation with the other. And we want to make sure that we're moving on all fronts to reduce the size, the scope, and the largesse in our federal government and make it more efficient and more effective."

On the Russia sanctions bill:

"[T]he White House is working with our team here on some refinements … to make sure that from a technical standpoint, it accomplishes what … everybody wants to see accomplished. We're trying to give [President Trump] as much space and room as necessary for him to try and negotiate the best possible outcome and get a peaceful solution in Ukraine. And if the sanctions contribute to that, then yeah, we're available and ready to move. So we're kind of looking to coordinate with and take direction from the White House about what gives them the best possible chance of succeeding in trying to get the, you know, the outcome that we want to see and that we want to achieve in Ukraine."

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