Reporter Asks John Thune Point Blank: Is Trump Willing To Give Dems 'Some Breaks' To Avoid Shutdown?

Forbes Breaking News

During a press gaggle on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) was asked whether he thought President Trump would give into some of the Democrats demands for an upcoming spending bill to help get the bill passed.

Transcript

00:00With that, we'll try and answer questions.

00:01We know what Russ Moot had said about a less bipartisan appropriations process.

00:08Will you ultimately be looking to the President himself about what he wants in government funding,

00:14and do you think he would be willing to give the Democrats some breaks to give them some opportunity

00:18to get on to whatever form of a spending bill that takes shape in September?

00:23I think it's in everybody's interest to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September,

00:29which, as you all know, is when our fiscal year ends.

00:32And obviously, in order for that to happen, it's going to take some cooperation from Democrats.

00:36So I think the President is prepared to deal, to negotiate.

00:39He's proven that in the past.

00:41And obviously, we have bills on the floor right now, or a bill on the floor,

00:45which are trying to convert into bills to make it a package of bills to consider

00:48to keep the appropriations process moving forward.

00:52And obviously, we are all very concerned on our side of the aisle

00:55and finding ways to make our country more fiscally sustainable

00:59and to find savings within the appropriations process

01:03and the other areas of government funding that fall under the mandatory side of the budget.

01:07But we very much want to see restraint in spending

01:11so that we can start dealing with the debt and the deficits.

01:15And I think the best way, at least right now, to do that

01:17is to have a normal appropriations process.

01:20And a number of my colleagues are on that committee

01:24and have been working aggressively to try and get bills ready for consideration on the floor.

01:28And I just hope now that we can get a path forward to do that.

01:31If at the end of the fiscal year, the Democrats use any other suggestion

01:34made by anybody in the administration as a cover for not doing appropriations bills,

01:40or worse yet, as a cover for trying to shut the government down,

01:43that is an argument that's not going to be sustainable.

01:45And so, you know, if we end up with a Schumer shutdown at the end of the year,

01:50the Democrats are going to own that.

01:52In the meantime, we're going to do everything we can

01:54to try and move the appropriations process forward,

01:56which is why we called up and put on the floor

01:59the Milcon VA appropriations bill last week.

02:01Mr. Schumer, how are you going to handle a CR at the end of September?

02:06Will you do what you did in March, basically take a House pass package,

02:10bring it to the floor,

02:10or would you enter a four-quarters negotiation ahead of time?

02:14Well, to be determined, I think a lot of that depends on

02:17how cooperative the Democrats are

02:19in trying to get the appropriations process moving forward.

02:22You know, obviously, I would say all options are on the table

02:27when it comes to funding the government.

02:29But what I can tell you is we are going to look for ways

02:32to keep the government funded and open and operating.

02:34And what we hear, at least rhetorically,

02:37coming out of the Democrats right now

02:39is they have a very different view of the world.

02:40And they're already talking openly about a shutdown.

02:43And I think the politics on their side of the aisle right now

02:45is such that, as I said, the far left,

02:47the wing of their party in the Senate, is calling the shots.

02:51And I don't think that's in anybody's best interest.

02:53So I'm not taking any options off the table.

02:56But what I will tell you today is that as we look at the next this week

03:00and then the subsequent weeks coming in September,

03:04I intend to use those weeks to try and get appropriation bills done

03:07so that when we get to that year-end conversation,

03:11we're prepared to have a, hopefully, a substantive conversation

03:15about what the best way is to fund the government.

03:17We're prepared to do that.

03:18We're prepared to do that.

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