So, with us right now is Majority Leader Senator John Thune. Senator, welcome back. Thanks, Brian. Good to be with you. Man, you're one of the busiest guys in Washington.
What kind of progress have you made on the Save America Act?
Well, I think we're obviously had it on the floor now for most of this week. We're going to roll through the weekend on it into next week. And every day that we're debating it on the floor is another day that Democrats have to try and defend an indefensible position.
So, I mean, I just think that this is a, you know, it puts a spotlight on the Democrats' opposition to something that 80% of the American people and a huge majority of Democrats even support.
So, I mean, when you talk about voter ID, like you said, the numbers don't lie. Every single poll, between 75 and 85, depending on your party, they want to see it. To say that blacks or Asians can't get ID is an insult. And I think the people realize that. Would some say, for example, in your party, like Murkowski, come out and say, well, I need mail-in voting.
The president doesn't want mail-in voting. Is there a compromise there? She says she's got some people who live 400 miles away from a voting position over in a very rural state. I think there is, Brian. What we tried to do is we tried to modify the mail-in mail-in voting provision in this to accommodate states like hers that give states a lot of latitude if there's a hardship and they can define what that hardship is.
So what this whole provision is designed to get at really are the abuses and the places where fraud occurs voting. And that is it's ballot harvesting, it's these drop boxes, it's unsolicited mail-in ballots where people don't request one and they're just shipping them out and sometimes you're getting three or four at the same address. I mean, I think those are very real abuses that need to be curbed and that's what this is targeted at. The things that, you know, states like Alaska, I know she has strong feelings about this, and I understand it's a very different state from the one most of the rest of us represent, but the language in there is really designed to give states the latitude that they need to address the unique sometimes geographical challenges that their states face. Senator, is it true that Chuck Schumer was somewhat talking to you guys behind the scenes about some type of voter ID?
Well, he said it, he's said it behind the scenes. He's also at his news conference the other day, Brian, when asked, it was sort of an offhand answer to a question, and he was getting asked about the Save America Act, and he made the comment: well, we're not opposed to photo ID.
Well, if they're not, then fine. Let's pass that. I mean, we're happy to narrow it down and get them on board and actually get an outcome or get a result here. We're going to test the proposition of whether or not they're serious. And we did that yesterday.
One of our colleagues from Ohio, John Hustead, offered a unanimous consent request to just pass photo ID, and the Democrats blocked it and objected to it.
So they're trying to, I think, pay lip service to this because they know how out of step they are with the American people and how commonsensical most Americans find this issue. But whether or not they'll actually come through and actually deliver the votes on getting us a result and getting something done is still an open question. You would have taken that. If it had passed, you might have done a version of the Save America Act as just photo ID. Totally.
And we've got we would take that. There are other pieces of this, obviously, that we want to get done too, and we can build out from there. But if that's something the Democrats would be willing to support, we take it in a New York minute. But I think we're going to find out whether or not they're serious. And like I said, I think he's saying some things right now because they're starting to feel some of the political pressure.
And hopefully, that will continue. They'll continue to feel that, and maybe they'll get to a point where they actually would work with us to enact, even if we don't get the rest of the pieces of this done, to get photo ID done. Where were you in 1996?
Well, I was running for Congress the first time.
Okay.
Well, I'm going to tell you what Chuck's humor was. This is what he said. Let's admit the truth. Everywhere people go, they're asked for a Social Security card. In fact, one way to prove you're a bona fide person who can have a job is to ask for a driver's license and a social security card.
That's Chuck's humor. I mean, does he not know we're taping this? I mean, what does he say when you? I mean, I don't know if he's ever been confronted with this. Yeah, I mean, people, I think right now, I'm glad you're pulling it.
I hope that people, that more and more people become aware of that, of just the hypocrisy and the double talk that Democrats are engaging in right now. I think part of it, Brian, too, is Schumer, like so many Democrats here in the Senate, is so susceptible to the far-left-wing base in this country, and they don't want to do anything. And part of it has to do with just Trump derangement syndrome and their blind hatred of the president. But I also think that there's a good contingent of Democrat, particularly special interest groups, these far-left special interest groups, who think they benefit from having non-citizens vote in our elections and not having to have a photo ID.
So it's a combination of things. But if he is sincere and if he is actually wants to be at all consistent with what he said in the past, maybe there's a path here where Schumer ultimately gets to where he says we're going to. We're going to go along and at least get photo ID done. And I know, I guess, within a midterm election, they don't want to give the President a win. They don't even want to fully fund government.
But here's what the President said about you when I talked to him last Friday, cut 28. The main thing I have to do is find out who's going to get the Save America Act approved.
Well, I guess Senator John Thune's kind of at a log jam. Look, I think he's a wonderful person, I do. But he seems to be uh Not that he doesn't want to do it, he doesn't think he can do it. And that's bad. I mean, how can you not get voter ID approved?
How can you not get citizenship approved? Proof of citizenship.
So he's frustrated. You can hear in his voice. You probably have heard that very conversation to your face. Yeah, many times. And I understand his passion, and we share it.
I mean, these are all things we all want to get done. And I tell people that I'm, in some cases, I have to be the, I don't say the grin reaper, but sometimes the bearer of bad news because I have to tell people what the vote count is. And, you know, as we test these issues, and obviously to pass something in the Senate, it takes 60 votes, not 51, on an issue like this. And that means you've got to have some Democrats.
Now, the President would just say, well, just nuke the legislative filibuster, and then you can pass everything at 51. But I think the, you know, that, again, that's another issue where the votes aren't there. And so they shouldn't be. We have to have a filibuster. Senator Thune, if we don't have a filibuster, people don't realize there's a day when Democrats will be in charge, and they're going to be a Democratic president.
And th and now the Senate will be like an executive order. Whatever the president wants will be the law of the land. And I don't think Republicans are going to be happy with that. No, and I'll tell you what, Brian, and again, it's part of the founders when they designed our checks and balances in our government. They created the three branches of government.
But in the legislative branch, the Article I branch, they divided power between the House and the Senate. And they created the Senate to give a voice to the minority in the country. And yeah, if you go to simple majority, you become just like the House, only with longer terms. And then anything, when the Democrats get it, that agenda, we will own it. I mean, if we enable all the stuff that they do because we decide to blow up a legislative filibuster, we are going to rule the day that happens when they get control again.
So, one of the people that are not for the Save America Act is Mitch McConnell. He just doesn't, and Keem Jeffrey said the same thing, but. He just says, I just don't think the federal government should be involved in state elections. Or in the election process, and he says that's not part of the Constitution. You must have heard that argument before.
Yeah, I mean, and that's the leader, I think, holds that position sincerely, although he did vote to get on this bill. You know, he was one of them, you know, to get on the bill that came over from the House that has photo ID and basically citizenship to register to vote. Senator McConnell voted with us.
So, you know, I don't know ultimately where he's going to be on the final, on the final passage vote on this, but I do know, and there are, and I might put myself in this category. I'm what we call a Federalist. I believe in states' rights. I believe in distributed power. I think less power in Washington and more power to people around the country and state and local governments is a better, you get way better outcomes for our country.
But on this particular issue, where federal elections are concerned, we do have authority, and we ought to ensure, if nothing else, that non-citizens aren't voting in American elections. I think that's a straightforward issue and one that doesn't get you crosswise with a belief that. We ought to preserve power for the states and the people. Senator, I got the best analogy for you. You feel free to take it.
It's like in baseball and football, we do it even in soccer. There's videotape replay. It's not that you hate the refs, you just want to make sure the right team wins. And if it was a catch or a drop, we just want to find out what it was. Even if Republicans lose every election, you're just saying, I want to make sure the right person wins.
So, to me, it's videotape replay. It's not that I hate the refs, it's just that they're not perfect.
So, let's just make sure that we can use technology in this case. to get the right, you know, to find out who the right winner should be. Right.
Well, and that's and that's and again, that's perfectly it's a good a good analogy or illustration because it's true. You want to make sure that the people voting in American elections are the people who are eligible to vote in American elections. And it's against our law to vote if you're not a citizen.
So, why not make that a requirement? And then, secondly, verify it at the ballot box by forcing somebody to produce a photo ID. I mean, I just think these are common sense solutions.
So, Senator, I got to bring you to funding the rest of the DHS. We know about TSA, we know about the Coast Guard, we know about the cyber unit is all not being funded. all because they want to reform ICE. I know Tom Holman was meeting with Democrats yesterday. We know we have Mark Wayne Mullen, who's going to be taking over, I think, as early as Monday when the vote goes to the floor.
So I'm wondering, has there been enough progress made to say that we can fund the government this weekend. I mean, have you talked to anybody? We're going to find out real soon. When Tom Holman came up here, and by the way, Brian, that request for that meeting has been out there literally for weeks. I mean, in the 35 days of this shutdown, from day one, the White House has indicated a willingness to sit down with Democrat leadership and try and resolve this and get the government and all these agencies and really important functions of our government operating again.
And the Democrats have resisted. I mean, in fact, the last White House proposal, the Democrats sat on it for 18 days without responding.
So we're trying to force the issue. We pretty much shamed them into having this meeting yesterday.
So Holman comes up. We had some of our Republicans that are involved with that agency in the appropriations process there and senior Democrats to find out how serious they are. And I honestly think, I mean, the White House has been incredibly accommodating, trying to work with Democrats on reforms, and I think been very forthcoming and trying to get a deal here. The question is, do they have a partner? Democrats actually want a deal or do they just want an issue?
And my impression, at least up until now, is this is all about politics for Chuck Schumann and the Democrats. The far left base is demanding, again, that they fight the president. And in the meantime, you've got a lot of important functions of government, a lot of people who aren't working, jobs that aren't getting done. And I have never seen this in my time in politics where one political party, their hatred of a president, actually surpasses what they know is in the clear interest of the safety and security of the American people.
So I heard there were progress yesterday. Would you characterize it the same way? And number two is: are the two issues, the masks and judicial warrants? Yeah, I mean, I think those are the two issues. The White House has come a long ways on several issues.
I mean, on body-worn cameras, on identifying agents when they go in, if they're going to find people who are here illegally or who are criminally here. And then another thing they've also made, I think, significant headway on is well, the mask issue, I think, is the one that's still the outstanding one. But I think in terms of just the other issues that are out there, I think the White House has done everything they can to try and get the Democrats the solution that sort of fits one. And I was going to say the other one is the limitations on where they go. And I think the White House has said, okay, churches, hospitals, schools, places like that, they're willing to make accommodations so that they're not going into those types of places.
And on the issue of warrants, it really comes down to personal Residences and things like that. And I think, again, the administration is willing to work with the Democrats to try and get a solution there.
So those issues are, to me, there is deal space there, Brian, that's achievable. I think we can get an outcome. Regrettably, we don't have, at least right now, a partner at the table, but we're going to find out today if that partner is going to show up. Yeah, you have to. And lastly, on the Iran War, it looks like Pete Hakesett saying the Secretary of War, you're going to need $200 billion more.
Uh your thoughts.
Well, you know, look, I mean We spent four years under Biden where defense spending didn't even keep up with the rate of inflation.
So things had fallen way behind. And we're trying to catch up now. And we are in a conflict with Iran that has it's no question about it, it has a cost associated with it. And I think we have to factor that in.
Now my view is that this isn't going to last all that long. I think that the objectives are being achieved. The mission is going to be accomplished here before long, at least in terms of what we needed to do there. But I do think that We've got to make sure that the munitions that have been depleted are replenished, our stockpiles are ready. We live in a dangerous world.
And I've always said, Ryan, if you don't get national security right, the rest is conversation. The other things that these other issues don't matter much if you can't defend the country.
So I don't know. We haven't seen the specifics of that request. That sounds like a big number to me. But once we get the details, we'll work through it and see what we need to do to make sure that our military is ready to meet whatever threats are out there. Yeah, this has been the menace of the Middle East really since the 80s, forever.
And I think the President made his most courageous decision by taking it on. If it ends in a few weeks, I don't think people are going to remember March and November. But I know you got your hands full selling affordability when the market has dropped 300 points today and oil is around $100. But I think it's for the right reason. Senator Thune, always great.
We really appreciate it. And so does our audience when you come on with us. Good to be with you. Thanks, Brian. Talk to you soon.
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