FROM WASHINGTON EXAMINER: An animated Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) unleashed on Democrats on Wednesday over food stamp funding that’s set to run dry on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown.
Thune blocked an effort by Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) to pass a funding carveout for SNAP and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which some GOP senators have also advocated be funded during the shutdown. Thune went on to condemn Democrats for what he called a “cynical attempt to provide political cover” before Luján offered a reaction.
The normally mild-mannered Midwesterner shouted a deluge of criticism on the floor against Democrats for seeking to pass a stand-alone measure for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other federal food aid after having opposed a “clean” GOP stopgap bill 13 times in recent weeks to reopen the government.
“SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country. And we tried to do that 13 times! You voted ‘no’ 13 times!” Thune said.
“This isn’t a political game,” he raged.
“These are real people’s lives we’re talking about, and you all have just figured out, 29 days in, that, ‘Oh, there might be some consequences?’” he added.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES! Senate Leader John Thune just went BERSERK on Democrats. I have NEVER heard him like this.
"WE'VE TRIED TO DO THAT 13 TIMES! You voted NO, 13 TIMES!" *Looking at Dems*
"OH, 'there MIGHT BE SOME CONSEQUENCES!' 'There are people running out of money!'"
"SNAP… pic.twitter.com/tzqbbQFkdE
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 29, 2025
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