John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings, en bloc.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 23, 2025; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 191, S. 3012, ripen at 12:15 p.m.; further, that following disposition of that vote, the Senate execute the order of October 22 in relation to the Meredith nomination; finally, that the cloture motion with respect to the Taibleson nomination ripen following disposition of the Meredith nomination.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, 3 weeks. It has been 3 weeks since Democrats shut down the government. Democrats chose to put the demands of far-left activists ahead of serving the American people, and over the last 3 weeks, it is the American people who have borne the consequences of the Democrat shutdown. Thousands of flights have been delayed. Nutrition assistance for millions of needy families is in jeopardy. Military families are turning to food banks in ``unprecedented'' numbers. Democrats apparently are willing to prolong the suffering until their far-left base is satisfied. We have given Democrats here in the Senate numerous opportunities to end the shutdown. We have held now 11 votes on a clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution to end the shutdown and the pain that comes with it, and they said no every time. We gave Democrats an opportunity to consider the bipartisan Defense appropriations bill--something that, I might add, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee 26 to 3, an overwhelming bipartisan vote. We gave them an opportunity to consider that here on the floor so we can at least protect our national security and pay our troops. Democrats called it ``unacceptable'' and a ``distraction'' to pay the troops. We even offered to give them a vote on a healthcare proposal of their own design if they vote to reopen the government. The answer again was no. I don't know what Democrats are looking for, but if they are looking for Republicans to give in to their hostage taking, they should think again. I have been very clear since the beginning. On the first day of this shutdown, I said Republicans would be perfectly willing to discuss the issues Democrats are raising but only after we reopen the government. I said, and I quote, quoting myself here: [W]e're not going to engage in bipartisan discussions while Democrats are holding the federal government hostage to their partisan demands. Interestingly enough, that is the exact same position the Democrat leader espoused during the 2013 shutdown. He said then: As we said a thousand times, we are happy to discuss how to fund the government but not with a gun to our head. Open up all of the government, and then we can have a fruitful discussion. . . . Then we will discuss things, but--as has been said over and over--not with a gun to our heads. That is from the Democrat leader back in 2013. He espoused the same position, interestingly enough, again in 2019, noting: We cannot--cannot--ever hold American workers hostage again. Yet here he is in 2025 holding American workers and government funding hostage. I guess he has forgotten his own words, or maybe it is just situational, like a lot of things. They just adopted a political position, not a real one. Republicans are ready to sit down with Democrats just as soon as they stop holding the government hostage to their partisan demands. As I have said, we have actually offered to guarantee them a vote on the ObamaCare issue they are raising, but Democrats continue to dig in. They say we have to agree to their demands before they will agree to pay our troops, before Federal workers can have certainty about putting food on the table and paying their bills, before needy families can be sure that nutrition assistance will be there for them. They say all of this has to wait until after we fix a problem Democrats created, because, let's be clear, the ObamaCare cliff that Democrats are so worked up about is a result of their own choices. Democrats wrote ObamaCare. They passed ObamaCare without a single Republican vote. They created the ObamaCare COVID credits without a single Republican vote. They extended the COVID credits, and then they chose the expiration date without a single Republican vote. That is right--they chose the expiration date, and then they chose not to address that expiration date when they had the majority here in the Senate for the last 4 years. But now they want you to believe that this is somehow a ``Republican healthcare crisis.'' Give me a break. Give me a break. If Democrats truly want a discussion on how to fix the healthcare mess they created, then they should be voting to reopen the government, and we have a bill right there at the desk that will do just that. It is clean. It is nonpartisan. It has no new Republican policies. It has no partisan policy riders. It just extends current funding levels for a few short weeks until we get an opportunity to finish the rest of the appropriations process. Right now, we are just five Democrat votes away from passing that here in the Senate and sending it to the White House for President Trump to sign. And if just a handful--a handful--of Democrats would step forward, we could reopen the government literally in a matter of hours, today. As I said from the very beginning of the shutdown, I made it clear that if Democrats reopen the government, we can immediately sit down and talk about the ObamaCare cliff they have created. Instead, Democrats have wasted now 1, 2, 3 weeks when we could have been having those discussions. And while the American people have suffered, Democrats have been courting praise from the far left. They spent their time looking to be praised for fighting against President Trump when they could have been working with him and with Republicans on solving a problem they claim to be concerned about. I will say it again: Republicans are ready to go to work. We have been ready. We are just waiting for Democrats to take yes for an answer. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motions filed on Monday, October 20, ripen at time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, on Wednesday, October 22.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 191, S. 3012.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Executive Calendar No. 471.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have four requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, following the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Lewis nomination; and if cloture is invoked on the Lewis nomination, all postcloture time be expired, and the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Meredith nomination; further, if cloture is invoked on the Meredith nomination, all postcloture time be expired and the Senate vote on confirmation of the nominations at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, no earlier than Thursday, October 23; further, if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; finally, that the mandatory quorum calls with respect to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371, as well as the Meredith and Lewis nominations be waived.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to execute the order of October 21, with respect to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371, and I further ask that following disposition of that vote, the Chair execute the previous order with respect to the Lewis, Meredith, and Mercer nominations in that order.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I enter a motion to reconsider.

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining rollcall votes in this series be 10 minutes in length.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding rule XXII, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, following consultation with the Democratic leader, no later than Friday, October 31, it be in order to discharge the Committee on Finance of S.J. Res. 88 and the Senate proceed to its consideration; further, that there be up to 6 hours for debate only on the joint resolution with the time equally divided between the leaders or their designees; and that following the use or yielding back of that time, the joint resolution be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on the resolution.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I understand that there are three bills at the desk and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and I object to my own request, all en bloc.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to adjourn until 7:03 p.m.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, you have to give the Democrats credit for one thing, and that is a healthy dose of gall. Both the House and Senate Democrat leaders were out last week and claiming that they can't fund the government until--get this--we solve the ``Republican healthcare crisis.'' That is right--``the Republican healthcare crisis.'' It is truly amazing how a program Democrats created and tax credits that they chose to sunset have now become the Republicans' crisis. Republicans, in fact, never had anything to do with it. Democrats created Obamacare-- alone. They implemented the enhanced tax credits--alone. And they chose a sunset date for those tax credits--alone. Democrats are solely, solely responsible for the Obamacare tax credit cliff, and yet they are trying to pin this disaster on Republicans, while at the very same time, they are asking Republicans to bail them out. It is really kind of ironic. Democrats may not win a lot of points for truthfulness, but you have to give them credit for gall. While Democrats may have created this healthcare situation, I have made it clear, from the beginning, that Republicans are willing to have a discussion about how to address it. In fact, I am perfectly willing to guarantee Democrats a vote. But none of that is going to happen until Democrats reopen the government. We are not going to negotiate on anything until Democrats stop holding government funding hostage. And if they really want to address their Obamacare mess, they should stop running out the clock on a deal. All they are doing by that action is keeping the government shut down and enhancing--enhancing, believe it or not--the chances this situation doesn't get fixed because the clock is running. Before I leave the subject of healthcare, I do have to mention the irony that, while Democrats claim they are defending Americans' healthcare, their shutdown has actually suspended valuable healthcare services for a lot of Americans. Medicare and rural patients are currently dealing with the elimination of telehealth services, thanks to the government shutdown. Telehealth, of course, increases the accessibility of care and lets those who live far from medical treatment, or who otherwise struggle to travel, to conduct prescription refill appointments or other visits from the comfort of their home. But that assistance is currently being denied to them thanks to the Democrats' shutdown. But I am not sure why I am talking about shutdown costs. Democrats have made it very clear that they don't care about the costs of the shutdown--to anyone. Democrats used to care, of course, or so they claimed. In fact, I could fill a book with Democrat quotes on how shutdowns harm hard- working Americans. But over the past 3 weeks, it has become clear that Democrats' previous concerns had more to do with politics than with principle. Democrats were against shutdowns when it served their purposes, and now that it serves their purposes--or so they think--to keep the government closed, they are all for shutdowns, no matter how many Americans have to suffer in the process. I have talked about healthcare today, and Democrats would definitely like Americans to think that that is what this shutdown is about. But, of course, the biggest driver of this shutdown is not healthcare or any other issue. It is the Democrats' far-left base. Leftwing activists demanded a showdown with President Trump, and Democrats fell in line. That is why you see the Democrat leader, who actually voted to fund the government in the spring, leading the shutdown brigade this time around. Far-left groups were rallying this weekend, and the Democrat leader and other Democrat Senators were out paying homage. And if these same leftwing groups have their way, Democrats will be keeping up the shutdown for a long time to come. They don't really care about a solution. This is about politics. For the sake of the American people, let's hope that there are some Democrat Senators who will eventually put the needs of their constituents over the demands of their far-left base and work with Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding measure that is sitting right here in front of us today. And when passed, it will be sent to the President and signed into law, and this government will open up again. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.