Top DC Republican anticipates a 'big fight' in September

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune

SIOUX FALLS — When South Dakota Republican John Thune delivered his first remarks as U.S. Senate majority leader in January, he pledged to restore “regular order” to the chamber, including “bringing appropriations bills to the floor for serious deliberation.”

Tuesday, he said a stopgap spending bill will likely need to be negotiated with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown in October.

Congress didn’t finish its 12 annual spending bills before its August recess and would have to sprint to approve them by Oct. 1, which is the deadline to avoid a shutdown.

“We’re going to have a big fight at the end of September,” Thune told an audience at the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Inside Washington luncheon.

He told reporters after the meeting that he hopes the spending extension would be for a short amount of time if Democrats don’t “work with us in a constructive way” through the traditional appropriations process.

In May, President Donald Trump released a budget request proposing $163 billion in spending cuts. Thune said the appropriations process would allow individual programs to be reviewed by members of Congress and potentially saved from cuts if “appropriators believe that they’re getting a good return for the American taxpayer.”

“I think that it’s in everybody’s best interests if the Appropriations Committee is able to do its work and then Congress, the House and Senate, pass appropriations bills and put them on the president’s desk for him to sign into law,” Thune said.

Thune also addressed Trump’s imposition of higher tariffs. Before last year’s presidential election, Thune criticized tariff proposals like Trump’s as “a recipe for increased inflation.” Tuesday, he offered a different take, referencing trade deals that have resulted from tariff negotiations.

“I do think that the ways in which they are using them, in my view, at least right now is yielding some results,” Thune said of the White House’s strategy.

Afterward, Thune took questions from reporters on topics including immigration.

Lack of action on immigration is ‘holding SD back,’ dairy farmers say

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law last month provides $170 billion for immigration- and border-enforcement activities. Thune said the spending helps pay for “everything we need to keep the border secure and ensure we have an orderly way of processing people who are coming into the country, whether it’s for refugee status or otherwise.”

The next step, Thune said, should be to address workforce shortages with legal immigration policies. Thune said “it’d be nice” if Congress passed legislation so polices don’t change “from one administration to the next.”

South Dakota relies on immigrants, especially in agriculture and tourism. Growing workforce needs will force the immigration issue “to be front and center,” he added.

“It’s an economic issue because of the impact that it has,” Thune said. “If you can’t find workers in our economy, that’s a big problem.”

The chamber’s Inside Washington luncheons are annual events inviting South Dakota congressional delegates to speak about issues affecting the state and businesses. Rep. Dusty Johnson is set to speak at the next luncheon on Aug. 22, and Sen. Mike Rounds is set to speak on Aug. 28.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.