John Thune

Frustrations are bubbling up among House Republicans after the conference — by the skin of its teeth — overcame internal disputes to adopt a framework for President Trump’s legislative agenda, a troubling sign for the group as it heads into the next, more difficult, step in achieving the president’s domestic policy priorities. The rocky week [...]

Senate leaders remained confident the House's budget bill would make it through the reconciliation process after the Senate reconvenes after Easter.

Thirteen weeks in session, 213 votes, 55 confirmations, two vote-a-ramas and a final 2am vote — Senate Republicans could not be more ready for a two-week recess.Why it matters: Republicans demanded that their new leader get the Senate working hard again. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) answered the call, but Republicans are feeling the effects of the Democratic opposition.Thune had to constantly haggle with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on vote times, and delays from Democrats have been particularly draining, Republicans told Axios.Senate staffers also had to stay nimble, needing to reschedule meetings or media appearances over the past few weeks.Tomorrow will mark the 100th day of the 119th Congress. Hopes for a Thursday afternoon fly-out were spoiled by Democratic holds on President Trump's nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Between the lines: Nobody wants to admit they're tired, but most GOP senators chuckled when Axios asked about the level of fatigue among their colleagues. A couple of senators threw each other under the bus."Listening to our freshmen talk, I think this has been a rough stretch," Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Axios."I think the older guys are getting tired," another senator told Axios, not wanting to be named.What they're saying: "My sense is people are looking forward to spending some time at home," Hawley said."I don't want to think like Washington. I want to make sure I think like home," Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said. "So getting home is really important.""I think we've set, pretty much, records," Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told Axios. He expects the Senate to "come back swinging again" but admitted that it will be good to "get away from each other and go back in the states."The bottom line: "We absolutely signed up for this," said Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.). "I think it is a critical moment in time ... and we'll certainly work around the clock, which is exactly what we're doing.""It's definitely different than my first two years when we were in the minority and we weren't doing a lot of stuff," Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said."I've never been busier," Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said. "But I'm proud of what we've accomplished."Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said that despite "working long hours," the enthusiasm for nominees and tax reform "mitigates any physical exhaustion some of our members might feel."What's next: GOP leadership told senators to expect eight votes a day when they come back from recess, sources told Axios.

WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, filling the position almost two months after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor.

The Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan 'Razin' Caine to become the next Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, filling the post almost two months after his predecessor was fired.

Glimmers of optimism surrounding President Trump’s tariffs quickly faded on Tuesday as the White House dug in on the threat of new levies, the markets erased their small morning gains and Republican lawmakers grew increasingly frustrated with what they see as mixed messages coming from administration officials. The mood early on Tuesday was more upbeat [...]

Glimmers of optimism surrounding President Trump’s tariffs quickly faded on Tuesday as the White House dug in on the threat of new levies, the markets erased their small morning gains and Republican lawmakers grew increasingly frustrated with what they see as mixed messages coming from administration officials. The mood early on Tuesday was more upbeat [...]

Canada will begin imposing 25% tariffs on select U.S. car imports Wednesday, ratcheting tensions between Washington and Ottawa as the rest of the world grapples with President Trump's ongoing assault on the global economic order.

House Dem More Supportive Of Trump Tariffs Than Many Republicans

Lawmakers’ struggle to act showed the divide among Republicans on trade policy.

Republicans in Congress are watching with unease as stock markets tumble in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate dived into contentious debate Friday on a budget plan critical to Republican efforts to pass trillions of dollars in tax cuts and boost border security and defense spending through what President Donald Trump calls “one big beautiful bill.”

Top Republicans in Congress are dismissing out of hand President Trump's suggestion that he is "not joking" about running for a third term. Why it matters: While they didn't push back forcefully, Republicans are at least clear-eyed about the severe Constitutional and political hurdles the president would face."A lot of people want me to do it," Trump told NBC News' Kristen Welker in a phone call Sunday, claiming that "there are methods which you could do it."Asked by the news outlet about having Vice President JD Vance run, pick Trump as his running mate and then resign, Trump reportedly responded: "That's one, but there are others too."What they're saying: House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) when asked about the idea of a Vance-Trump ticket, exclaimed, "I've never heard of anything like that before.""I find it too fanciful to really discuss seriously," he added, expressing skepticism that Trump could get the necessary votes in Congress or the states to amend the Constitution.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), asked if he believes Trump could run for a third term, replied, "Not without a change to the Constitution."Between the lines: The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution states that "no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice."Trump running as vice president has been floated by some Republicans as a way to circumvent that language.Legal scholars told Axios' Avery Lotz, however, that the 12th Amendment's prohibition on "constitutionally ineligible" individuals serving as president could at least lead to lawsuits if he were elected a third time.Zoom in: Republicans also suggested they aren't taking Trump nearly as seriously as he seems to be taking himself."You guys keep asking the question," Thune told reporters. "I think he's probably having some fun with it, probably messing with you."House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) compared Trump's third-term comments to his proposals to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal: "There's a lot of things the president talks about. ... It gets people talking." But Scalise told reporters, "There's no proposal to change the Constitution right now."What to watch: Trump's remarks could galvanize a sustained effort by his right-wing loyalists in Congress to fight for such a vote anyway — similar to the dynamic around impeaching federal judges.Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) introduced a constitutional amendment to allow any president who has served two non-consecutive terms to seek a third.That would allow Trump to run again, but not former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Barack Obama.— Axios' Stef W. Kight contributed reporting.

Congressional Republicans are brushing off President Trump’s latest comments about seeking a third term, downplaying them as a joke designed to needle the media even as the president insists he is serious. Trump has teased the idea of a 2028 bid for years, remarks that were largely seen as an effort to mock his opponents. [...]

President Trump indicated he was looking for ways to serve a third term, which is not allowed under the 22nd Amendment, in an interview with NBC News.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Monday said he believes that President Trump is "messing with" his opponents and the media with his remarks about the possibility of seeking a third term in 2028 despite the 22nd Amendment. Thune told reporters that despite Trump's insistence that he is "not joking" about a third White [...]

Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) nomination to serve as ambassador to the United Nations is facing fresh uncertainty as the Trump administration weighs the risks of further whittling down the Republican majority in the House. A source familiar with the matter said the situation was fluid and that no decisions had been made about whether to [...]

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., conducts a news conference in the Capitol on Tuesday. Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., also appear. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Some of Senate GOP leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) lawmakers are demanding more — in details, time and spending cuts — before they accept his accelerated clock on budget reconciliation.Why it matters: In the Senate, speed doesn't necessarily kill. But deliberation does, as Thune knows.He's betting that he and President Trump can quickly resolve the internal Senate GOP differences. The Senate had been eyeing the week of April 7 for a vote, but Thune's telling them to be ready next week.But even with that compressed calendar, senators want to extract promises on spending cuts — especially if they are going to vote for a debt ceiling increase."It feels like we're moving in the right direction," said Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.). "We short-circuit the process ... and vote prematurely, I won't be comfortable with signing up for that expedited timeline."Zoom in: "It makes it that much more important that we get the top-line budget numbers right," Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told us about a debt ceiling increase. He's insisting that the budget use the Senate's $6 trillion number for next year's spending."I don't love it, but I understand that it is what the White House wants," Lee said about attaching a debt limit hike.Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) hinted he'd vote against any resolution that didn't cut more spending: "We have to return to reasonable level pre-pandemic spending and a process to actually achieve it,"Young still has reservations about adopting a current policy score, which would zero out the cost of Trump's tax cuts. "I'm hoping we get ample time to give me those details," he said.The bottom line: Trump thinks of the debt ceiling as a nuisance. Some GOP senators think of it as a tool.Trump tried to get the debt ceiling raised before he was even president, in December, but that failed.The House wants to roll it into their reconciliation bill, and Senate Republican leaders are now on board, but senators like Lee aren't convinced.

Democrats took the opportunity to drill into CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during "worldwide threats" hearings this week.

Wicker also said the military plans included in the chat should have been classified, despite the White House saying they weren’t.

Derided by the MAGA right and yelled at by the far left? It's hard to imagine a more Jewish place to be.

'They're going to have to get a little urgency'

At least two-thirds of the Senate would have to vote to remove a judge from office, which is unlikely to happen.

WASHINGTON—In a decisive victory for longtime champions of the cause, congressional leaders announced Wednesday the passage of a new federal law mandating that all women talk with a baby voice. “Under the terms of this legislation, every American female over the age of 18 is now required to speak with short, simple words in a [...]The post New Federal Law Mandates Women Talk With Baby Voice appeared first on The Onion.

'We are just getting started'

Donald Trump’s secretary of agriculture boasted about falling egg prices in a Fox News interview Monday, contradicting prior predictions from her own department that egg prices would rise by a whopping 41.1% this year. Brooke Rollins told host Brian Kilmeade that the cost of eggs has “come down 44% since Trump took office.”And while Rollins’ claim might have a ring of truth, it’s not true for most people’s wallets just yet. NPR reports that while the wholesale price of eggs has decreased, the price tags at the grocery store haven’t budged.This isn’t the first time Rollins has appeared to be out of touch with what is impacting the American people, though. When egg prices began to skyrocket due to the ongoing H5N1 bird flu epidemic, people were disgruntled over the prices and frustrated that they couldn’t seem to find eggs on grocery store shelves because since the start of 2025, over 30 million egg-laying birds have been killed in an effort to contain the virus. A sign notes the limitation on the purchase of flats of eggs in a Costco warehouse Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, in Sheridan, Colo.In response to the lack of eggs and chickens, Rollins suggested that people start raising their own chickens. "I think the silver lining for all this is how do we in our back yards—we've got chickens too in our back yard—how do we solve something like this. And people are sort of looking around and thinking, 'Wow maybe I could get a chicken in my back yard and it's awesome,'" she said during an interview on “Fox and Friends.”Rollins also missed the mark when the Trump administration pulled $1 billion in funding for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farms. Despite the program benefiting children’s health and the pockets of the farmers who overwhelmingly voted for Trump, the administration decided to ax it altogether. In an attempt to defend the decision, Rollins went on Fox News (again) and delivered a rambling, seemingly transphobic justification for the cuts. Rollins compared the program intended to feed children to another axed program that allegedly gave funding to teach transgender farmers about “food justice.”She called this an “effort by the left to spend taxpayer money that was not necessary.”However, in the same Monday interview with Kilmeade, she acknowledged that one of the president’s largest voter bases is being hit hardest by his trade war.“There may be some bumpy times ahead,” Rollins said. “There’s no doubt these farmers are concerned but there's also no doubt these farmers believe in president Trump’s vision and in his leadership. No group has been more with the president from the beginning.”Trump-supporting farmers in South Dakota are already feeling the pain—and some of them have already gone to their elected representatives to plead for help. On March 4, farmers in Sioux Falls urged Sen. John Thune to end the trade war sooner rather than later. While they’re hopeful that the president they voted for will deliver, farmers are seeing their profits dwindle. “(Tariffs) will hurt our pocketbooks, obviously,” Rodney Koch, a soybean farmer north of Sioux Falls, told Dakota News Now. “But will we come out of it better in the long run? That’s the hope.”Trump hurt farmers with a similar trade war during his first administration. That time, he gave his voter base a bailout. This time—as Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency teams up with the GOP-controlled House and Senate to make massive cuts to the government's budget—there’s no bailout in sight. Scott VanderWal, president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, told Dakota News Now that his bureau members are willing to handle some "temporary pain" so long as they see some benefit "on the other end."“But we’ve been careful to help the administration understand that with the current ag economy, we would prefer that the president uses the tariffs sparingly,” VanderWal said. Campaign Action

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich writes that President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Thune and House Speaker Johnson pulled off a major political feat by getting the continuing resolution passed.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune arrived at the apex of power just as President Donald Trump is exerting his own executive authority. Will Thune draw a line?

We are officially over 50 days into the Trump 2.0 White House, and I can confidently say the Swamp is draining more and more by the second. President Trump campaigned largely on a mission to root out the vast waste...

The vote was 54-46. Democrats voiced frustration that Republicans went ahead with a measure they said included little input from them.

President Trump is doubling down on his widespread tariffs threats despite a stock market downturn that has helped fuel anxiety the nation could slide into a recession. Trump escalated the tit-for-tat with Canada on Tuesday when he said his administration would increase planned steel and aluminum tariffs in response to an electricity surcharge the Ontario [...]

Speaker Mike Johnson conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center after a House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., left, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also appear.

Sens. Ossoff and Shaheen explained why they had voted with all Democrats to block a bill to bar males from women’s sports.

Regulations and the strategic bitcoin reserve will likely be at the top of the agenda.

Republican lawmakers are starting to urge President Trump to reverse his decisions to pause U.S. military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, warning that a prolonged stoppage of U.S. help for the war effort would have a seriously detrimental effect. They say that Trump has the right to temporarily halt weapons shipments to Ukraine to assess [...]

As expected, the vote was along party lines.

President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill this week to deliver a speech to Congress. Trump will be speaking to the coequal branch of government he has bulldozed past this first month in office, wielding unimaginable executive power. With...

Critics warn of a constitutional crisis.

After successfully confirming his most controversial picks for top Cabinet roles, the Senate is on track to push them all past the finish line—and in record time.

McConnell has dealt with a series of medical episodes in recent years, including injuries from falls and times when his face briefly froze while he was speaking.

Fellow senators have clapped for Mitch McConnell after he announced he won’t seek reelection next year. The Kentucky Republican is ending a decadeslong tenure as a power broker who championed conservative causes but ultimately ceded ground to the fierce populism...

MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he “better move fast” to negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or risk not having a nation to lead.

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith’s (D) decision to not run for reelection in 2026 is adding another headache for Democrats trying to win back control of the Senate in two years. Smith became the second Senate Democrat to announce their retirement in the past few weeks after Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) also decided against seeking another [...]

The GOP's recent and longest-serving Senate party leader has stood in opposition to his conference multiple times, demonstrating the party’s significant transformation in the age of Trump.

Congress has one month to pass its spending bill or risk a government shutdown, and Democrats are hinting that they might take this opportunity to finally challenge President Donald Trump and reclaim some power.Because the GOP has the slimmest of majorities in the House, and at least a few Republicans are likely to jump ship, Speaker Mike Johnson will almost certainly need some Democratic votes to pass anything. And in the Senate, where such a bill will need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster, even if all Republicans support it, Senate Majority Leader John Thune will need Democratic support as well.This means that only a bipartisan deal can end up on Trump’s desk—and that’s how Democrats have a great opportunity to use the power they have, even in the minority. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, is joined by other Democrats during a protest at the Treasury Department.Last Sunday, Democratic Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker of New Jersey signaled that they are willing to band together to use a government shutdown to curb Trump, who has dismantled federal agencies and tried to enforce unconstitutional orders.“I would be the last person to want to get to that stage. But we are at a point where we are basically on the cusp of a constitutional crisis, seeing this administration taking steps that are so clearly illegal and until we see a change in that behavior, we should not allow and condone that, nor should we assist in that,” Kim said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press.”“We’re going to stand up against the kind of things that Donald Trump is doing that are hurting Americans, making us less safe and raising costs. We will look at every single tool in our toolbox,” Booker said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”If the government doesn’t pass its spending bill by the March 14 deadline, it will shut down. “Are Democrats willing to shut down the government over this gutting of federal agencies?” MSNBC host Ana Cabrera asked on her show “Ana Cabrera Reports.”“The issue is, are the Republicans going to shut down the government? I’m negotiating in good faith on the Appropriations Committee with my colleagues in the House and the Senate,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, replied.“We’re negotiating on that, but well, what we need to do is look at the assurances that, in fact, once we do come to an agreement that we will not have an interloper like Donald Trump or Elon Musk or, for that matter, the Speaker of the House saying the agreement’s off,” she added.Other leaders, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are focused less on a government shutdown and more on how they can leverage the limited power they do have through appropriations, litigation, and communications. This entails shielding official government documents from the likes of Trump’s co-President Elon Musk, holding up Trump’s unlawful actions in the courts, and getting creative with how Democrats reach voters.But Jeffries hasn’t entirely ruled out a shutdown.Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, is seen in the House chamber.Earlier this month, in a 10-point letter to his Democratic colleagues, Jeffries "made clear to House Republican leadership" that "any effort to steal taxpayer money from the American people ... must be choked off in the upcoming government funding bill, if not sooner."Meanwhile, Democrats of different factions, from the Progressive Caucus to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have hinted at using their votes to reign in Trump and Musk’s gutting of federal agencies and executive overreach.Schumer sent a letter to his colleagues hinting at a shutdown on Monday.“Legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes, and Senate Democrats will use our votes to help steady the ship for the American people in these turbulent times. It is incumbent on responsible Republicans to get serious and work in a bipartisan fashion to avoid a Trump Shutdown,” he wrote.The next day, he took to the Senate floor to put the government shutdown onus on Trump and Musk.“Since the inauguration, unfortunately, President Trump and Republicans have been actively working to shut down the government entirely on their own. Democrats do not want to shut the government down. It’s the Republicans who are in charge, and it is their responsibility to avoid a shutdown,” he said. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also said that she won’t make it easy on the GOP—and other Democrats shouldn’t either. “It is the Republican majority's responsibility to gather the votes necessary for them to pass their agenda. I do not believe that Democrats should be helping,” she said.Democratic leaders like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Schumer joined a rally outside of the Treasury Department in response to Musk’s hostile takeover of the department and other agencies. They reiterated that their offices are fielding a staggering volume of calls from constituents asking them to do more to oppose Trump. Using a must-pass funding bill to force Trump’s hand provides the perfect opening for Democrats to do exactly that.Democrats diverted on whether they will actually go through with leveraging a potential shutdown to get what they need, but they seem to agree on one thing: Republicans are to blame. Republicans have put party over country in defending and enabling Trump and his oligarchy. Daily Kos won't let them forget it, and we won't stop fighting back. Support news you can do something about with a $5 donation today.

The former lawmaker faced questions about her level of experience and past comments about autocratic leaders, but ultimately the Senate confirmed her on Wednesday afternoon.