John Thune dismisses Democrats’ health plan, urges clean CR to end shutdown: ‘Only one path out’

WASHINGTON, DC: Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday, November 8, opposed Democrats’ latest proposal to reopen the government, arguing that they were trying to “cover up” the flaws of Obamacare with more taxpayer spending.

Taking to the Senate floor, Thune accused Democrats of political maneuvering, saying their plan did nothing to address the root causes of rising premiums.

“They created this cliff, and now they want to blame Republicans for their break. Give me a break,” Thune said.

“The Democrats’ proposal is just more of the same: masking rising premiums and padding insurance companies’ profits with more taxpayer dollars,” he added.

John Thune dubs healthcare subsidies as ‘Biden bonuses’

Thune dismissed the health care subsidies sought by Democrats as “Biden bonuses” and said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s plan to tie reopening the government to health care measures was “a nonstarter.”

“There’s still only one path out, it’s a clean funding extension,” Thune said. “We reopen, and then we can start talking about addressing the health care mess that Democrats created.”

The South Dakota Republican added that he was “glad to see that after 38 days, Democrats are finally warming up to the idea that their shutdown can’t go on forever.”

"I urge my colleagues to support a clean continuing resolution so we can start a real discussion to address their health care mess, get back to the regular appropriations process and, above all, finally provide relief to the American people," Thune said.

Republicans eye ‘minibus’ to attract moderate support

Speaking to reporters after his remarks, Thune said that the Senate would remain in session until the government reopens, even if that means forgoing the planned Veterans Day recess.

When asked whether he was still considering sending senators home for the holiday, Thune was firm and said, “No. We’re going to vote on the minibus.”

The "minibus," a package of three appropriations bills, is being finalized by Republicans in an effort to win over moderate Democrats.

Thune said the text should be released soon and that he hopes to bring it to a vote as quickly as possible.

“Ideally, it’d be great to set it up so we could vote today, but we’ve got to have the votes to actually pass it,” Thune said.

"As people have an opportunity to firm up their views when the text is out there, then I think we’ll know with better certainty," he added.

Senate holds rare Saturday session

Saturday’s sitting marked only the fourth weekend session of the year and the 129th since 1968, according to the Senate secretary’s office.

The most recent Saturday meeting was on August 2, when senators cast 15 votes ahead of the summer recess.

Before that, the Senate convened on June 28 to work on advancing the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and on January 25 to confirm Cabinet nominees.