Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), typically known for his calm, measured demeanor, erupted in frustration on the Senate floor Wednesday, accusing Democrats of prolonging the government shutdown and using social welfare programs as political leverage.

Thune’s rare display of anger came during a heated exchange over legislation to temporarily fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food aid to low-income families.

Democrats, led by Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), pushed for a standalone bill to keep SNAP benefits flowing as the shutdown approached its 30th day.

Thune fired back, noting that Republicans had already voted 13 times to reopen the government, only to be blocked by Senate Democrats.

“Let me just point out, if I might, that we are 29 days into a Democrat shutdown,” Thune said, his voice rising. “SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country. And we’ve tried to do that 13 times. You voted no 13 times.”

As Democrats pressed for an immediate vote, Thune grew visibly exasperated, turning toward the Democratic side of the chamber.

“You all just figured out, 29 days in, that, oh, there might be some consequences? There are people who’ll run out of money? Yeah, we’re 29 days in,” he said, slapping the lectern for emphasis. “At some point, the government runs out of money. My aching back. You finally realize this thing has consequences.”

The exchange underscored the deepening frustration among Senate Republicans, who argue that Democrats are deliberately stalling a reopening of the government to extract concessions on unrelated spending priorities, including renewed subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

“This isn’t a political game,” Thune said. “These are real people’s lives that we’re talking about.”

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The impasse comes as millions of SNAP recipients face the prospect of missing benefits at the end of the month.

Both parties have introduced competing bills to address the program’s funding lapse. Luján’s Democratic-backed measure focuses solely on SNAP, while Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has proposed a broader Republican bill that includes funding for both food aid and military pay.

Thune, however, dismissed both standalone efforts as distractions from the larger issue — Democrats’ refusal to approve a continuing resolution that would reopen the government in full.

“We don’t need one-off fixes,” Thune told reporters after his floor speech.

“We need to pass a clean, bipartisan bill and get people back to work.”

Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have insisted they will not back the GOP’s proposed continuing resolution unless it includes a long-term extension of healthcare subsidies. Republicans have accused them of holding the government “hostage” to force through a partisan health care agenda.

Behind the scenes, there are signs of movement. Thune told reporters earlier Wednesday that bipartisan talks had “ticked up significantly” and that discussions with key Democrats were “constructive.” Asked when he would personally step into negotiations, Thune replied, “It will happen pretty soon.”

Still, Thune’s eruption on the floor reflects mounting impatience within the GOP. Normally even-tempered, the senator apologized afterward for his outburst but said Democrats’ tactics had left him no choice.

“Sorry, I channeled a little bit of anger there,” he told reporters. “But it’s a high level of frustration. They realize this is a losing argument. They’re trying to buy time — and every day they delay makes things worse.”

The government shutdown, now nearing its fifth week, has furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers and frozen pay for millions more. Essential programs such as food assistance and housing vouchers are operating on borrowed funds.

The White House has also applied pressure, with President Donald Trump declaring earlier this week that “Schumer and Senate Democrats are holding the entire government hostage.”

“You can call it the Schumer shutdown or the Democrats’ shutdown,” Trump said during a Rose Garden event on Tuesday. “They’re doing the wrong thing, and the public knows it.”

Senate Advances Nearly 100 Trump Nominees In Historic Move

Senate Republicans moved closer to a historic slate of confirmations on Wednesday after clearing another procedural hurdle toward approving nearly 100 nominees put forward by President Donald Trump.

Senate Republicans have advanced a group of 97 nominees in a 53–47 party-line vote. The action positions Republicans one step away from final confirmation of the nominees. A final confirmation vote is expected Thursday, unless Senate Democrats agree to accelerate the process through a time-limiting agreement.

If the upcoming vote is successful, as expected, Senate Republicans will have confirmed more of Trump’s nominees than any other president in their first year of office.

This current package of nominees would bring Trump’s total confirmations to 415 during the first year of his second term, surpassing the 323 confirmations he achieved in his first term. It also exceeds former President Joe Biden’s total of 365 confirmations by the end of his first year in office.

Since the Senate altered its rules for the confirmation process in September, Senate Republicans have quickly confirmed hundreds of Trump’s nominees. This change aimed to overcome Senate Democrats’ resistance to advancing even the most junior positions during the Trump administration, Fox noted.

The GOP triggered the “nuclear option” for the fourth time in Senate history, which lowered the threshold for confirming certain appointments to a simple majority instead of the usual 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.

This change has enabled Republicans to swiftly advance through sub-cabinet level positions and set the stage for what is anticipated to be a historic moment for Trump, Fox reported.

“Among the list of nominees are former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor and two picks for the National Labor Relations Board, James Murphy and Scott Mayer, along with several others in nearly every federal agency,” the outlet reported.

Lawmakers also confirmed President Trump’s nomination of billionaire Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, as well as his choice of Douglas Weaver for a position on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Isaacman’s confirmation received broad support, passing the Senate with a bipartisan vote of 67-30. However, this was the Senate’s second opportunity to consider Isaacman’s appointment as head of NASA.

Fox noted that Trump had nominated him to run the nation’s space agency in December 2024, but he was pulled earlier this year after a “thorough review of prior associations.”

But Isaacman was later nominated again in November for the same post, and Trump touted his “passion for space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new space economy.”

Last week, Senate Republicans pushed through the first procedural hurdle as they moved to confirm the dozens of nominees.

If Republicans complete the process, they will have confirmed more than 400 of Trump’s nominees during the first year of his second term. That total would place Trump well ahead of former President Joe Biden, who had 350 nominees confirmed at the same point in his presidency.

Case To Remove Dems Who Fled State Begins At TX Supreme Court

Texas House Democrats made national headlines this summer when they fled the state to stall a vote on a new congressional map that would help Republicans pick up 5 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to remove their caucus leader from office.

Now, that high-stakes case is before the Texas Supreme Court and could set a precedent for any lawmaker in the future who attempts to flee the state to avoid voting on a measure.

Abbott touted the court’s decision as a victory, posting on social media that the briefing schedule brings the “ring leader of the derelict Democrats … closer to consequences.”

The Court has combined Abbott’s lawsuit against Houston Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, with a similar case brought by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who seeks to oust Wu along with 12 other Democratic members.

Although Abbott and Paxton initially disagreed over which office had the legal authority to file such suits, Paxton said that he now looks forward to working alongside Abbott to “hold these cowards accountable.”

On Aug. 3, dozens of House Democrats left Texas to halt the Legislature and block passage of the GOP’s proposed congressional map. The redistricting push came under pressure from President Donald Trump, who has called for adding five Republican seats to bolster the party’s slim House majority ahead of the 2026 midterms.

As the minority party, their only viable tactic to derail the map is to break quorum—refusing to attend sessions so the chamber lacks the numbers needed to move legislation forward.

Wu’s attorneys contend that by leaving the state, he is acting in accordance with the will of his constituents, aiming to block the passage of legislation they oppose, the outlet noted.

Wu “has not died and has not been expelled from the House by the constitutionally prescribed means: a 2/3 vote of the House,” his lawyers said in a brief. “His presence in another state is not a voluntary resignation — as his opposition to this petition makes evident.”

The Texas Supreme Court is composed entirely of Republicans, with two-thirds of its members initially appointed by Governor Abbott. Among them are two justices — including the chief justice — who previously served as Abbott’s general counsel.

“They have their own independent authority, of course, but it does put them in a tough political position,” Andrew Cates, an Austin-based attorney and expert on Texas ethics law, told The Texas Tribune in an earlier interview. “They don’t want to be in the position of potentially biting the hand that initially fed them.”

This also comes as the U.S. Supreme Court recently got involved after Texas eventually passed the new map to give Republicans 5 U.S. House seats.

Texas’ newly redrawn Republican-friendly congressional map is back in place, at least for now, after Justice Samuel Alito temporarily restored the map while the full U.S. Supreme Court considers whether a lower court was correct in striking it down.

The map is expected to net Republicans up to five additional seats in the 2026 midterm elections if it remains in place, Politico reported.

Alito’s order allows Texas officials to continue preparing for primary elections under the GOP-backed map. The move came shortly after the state asked the justices for an emergency ruling to revive the redistricting plan championed by President Donald Trump.

Texas filed the appeal late Friday and asked the court to pause a lower court ruling that found the map was likely based on unconstitutional racial considerations.

The petition formally asked the high court to intervene in a case that could help decide control of the House in the next midterm cycle.