Holding The Line: John Thune On The Shutdown, Trump, & 2026 | 1.1.26

Summary

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Morning Wire – Special Edition: “Holding The Line: John Thune On The Shutdown, Trump, & 2026”

Date: January 1, 2026
Host: Daily Wire D.C. Bureau Chief Tim Rice
Guest: Senate Majority Leader John Thune

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Episode Overview

This special edition of Morning Wire features an in-depth interview between Daily Wire D.C. Bureau Chief Tim Rice and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The discussion centers on the high-stakes year in Congress, focusing on the 2025 government shutdown, the passage of the sweeping “one big beautiful bill,” President Trump’s third year in office, and what lies ahead for the Senate and the country in 2026. Key topics include legislative achievements, the confirmation process for presidential nominees, healthcare debates, the rise in political and antisemitic violence, and the Senate’s role in national security.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical Workload and Legislative Productivity

• [02:41] Tim Rice opens by highlighting the Senate’s extensive workload in 2025, in session for a historic number of weeks.
• John Thune [02:44]:
  “It was a historic number of weeks in session, days in session, hours in session, and record number of votes cast. In fact, we went back eight decades, back to the 1940s, and there’s only been one other time—in 1976—where a Senate cast more votes than we did this year… In many ways, sort of exhausting, but I would also say productive.”

2. Impact and Perception of the “One Big Beautiful Bill”

• [03:21] Tim Rice questions whether passing so much in one legislative package has affected public perception.
• John Thune [03:47]:
  “We loaded that thing up with so much of our agenda…national security, the border, energy, tax policy, school choice, newborn accounts, childcare, the farm bill… biggest spending reduction literally in history… If you’re a fiscal conservative like I am, we’re really proud…”
  Thune notes that bundling achievements into one bill can make it seem like the Senate isn’t producing results week to week, even as major priorities are being advanced.

3. Top Accomplishments in the Bill

• [05:40] Tim Rice asks Thune for the three most important components of the “big beautiful bill” that are underappreciated.
• John Thune [05:41-07:38]:
  • National Security:
    “We really made up for the Biden years… money to build the wall at the border, close the border… personnel for border patrol agents, detention facilities… making the country safer.”
  • Economic Prosperity & Tax Policy:
    “Not only extending the policies from 2017… lower rates for families… near doubling of the standard deduction… no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, reduced taxes for seniors… bonus depreciation, interest deductibility, R&D expensing… going to lead to growth in the economy and better paying jobs.”
  • Conservative Social Policies:
    “School choice policies… newborn accounts… all incentives in this bill that I think are just going to [lead to] a better quality of life for a lot of the American people.”

4. Healthcare Policy and Differing Party Priorities

• [07:38] Tim Rice shifts to the healthcare debate, noting its resurgence.
• John Thune [08:10]:
  • Points to work requirements in Medicaid and efforts to root out waste and abuse as wins.
  • Critiques the Democrats’ preference for extending Obamacare, calling out “enhanced Biden subsidies” and auto-enrollment loopholes.
  • Advocates for expanding Health Savings Accounts and greater individual choice:
    “What we do believe makes sense is a model that creates for expansion of health savings accounts and putting the money back in the pockets of people… incentivizing them to buy the insurance that makes sense for them rather than buying the insurance the government tells them they have to buy.”

5. Confirming Presidential Nominees Amid Partisan Obstruction

• [10:08] Tim Rice notes the massive scale of nominations processed in Trump’s first year of his new term.
• John Thune [10:31]:
  “President Trump is the first president in history who didn’t have one of his nominees… confirmed either by voice vote or unanimous consent. The Democrats were so dug in fighting President Trump that even the most noncontroversial positions… they forced us to do the long way. We made some tweaks… now we can move them in stacks. That’ll put us over 400 for the year…”
  • This procedural workaround improved efficiency, surpassing confirmation totals of prior administrations.

6. Rising Political and Antisemitic Violence; Foreign Threats

• [11:53] Tim Rice raises the concern of political and antisemitic violence, and renewed threats of radical Islamic terrorism.
• John Thune [12:33]:
  • Emphasizes the core duty of government is public safety:
    “I want people to be able to live. And I think the question, basic question most Americans ask is, am I safe? Is my family safe?... The best thing we can do is try to put in place the things that our law enforcement needs, that our military needs to deter bad behavior… make sure that people are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
  • Praises President Trump’s “clear-eyed focus on making our community safer… projecting a policy of peace through strength around the world.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:44] John Thune:
  “It was historic… in many ways, sort of exhausting, but I would also say productive.”

• [03:47] John Thune:
  “We loaded that thing up with so much of our agenda… the biggest spending reduction literally in history and something that, if you’re a fiscal conservative like I am, we’re really proud to be able to point to.”

• [05:41] John Thune:
  “If you don’t get national security right, the rest is conversation.”

• [08:40] John Thune:
  “There are no income caps. So now you’ve got people making five or six hundred thousand dollars a year who are getting subsidies from the federal taxpayers on health insurance. So that model, that business model is not what we are for.”

• [12:33] John Thune:
  “The best thing we can do is try to put in place the things that our law enforcement needs, that our military needs to deter bad behavior…”

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Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 02:25 | Start of interview: Senate’s historic 2025 workload | | 03:21 | Discussion of legislative strategy and PR challenges | | 05:20 | Top three achievements in “one big beautiful bill” | | 07:38 | The Senate’s approach to healthcare reform | | 10:08 | The nominations challenge and process improvements | | 11:53 | Addressing political, antisemitic, and terror threats | | 14:20 | Closing remarks and look ahead to 2026 |

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Recap & Tone

This episode provides a behind-the-scenes look at Congressional operations during a pivotal year, spotlighting both legislative and procedural victories from the Republican perspective. Thune, in clear and measured language, is both optimistic and pragmatic, repeatedly emphasizing safety, security, productivity, and conservative economic and social priorities. The tone is factual, occasionally self-congratulatory, and defensive of Senate Republican strategy in the face of public skepticism.

For listeners seeking detailed insight into the mechanics of an eventful legislative year, the episode offers direct, unvarnished commentary from the Senate Majority Leader himself.

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Transcript

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[John Mickley]

The government shutdown may have been the biggest story to come out of Capitol Hill this year, but behind the scenes, Republican lawmakers were working to pass legislation and confirm President Trump's nominees.

[Narrator/Announcer]

At the forefront of those efforts is Senate Majority Leader John Thune. In this episode, Daily Wire D.C. bureau Chief Tim Rice sits down with Thune to discuss the struggles and wins of 2025 and to look ahead to 2026.

[John Mickley]

I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Mickley with Georg. This is a special edition of Morning Wire.

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[Narrator/Announcer]

Following is an interview between Daily Wire DC Bureau Chief Tim Rice and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

[Tim Rice]

Senator Thune, thank you so much for sitting down with us today. I know it's a busy time. We've got a lot going on, and it's been a busy year. So let's start by talking about that. How would you. I believe the Senate was in session 44 out of 52 weeks this year. Is that correct?

[John Thune]

That's close. I think, to my colleagues in the Senate, it feels like 52 out of 52, but it is. It was Historic number of weeks in session, days in session, hours in session, and record number of votes cast. In fact, we went back eight decades, back to the 1940s, and there's only been one other time in 1976 where a Senate cast more votes than we did this year. So it's been. Yeah, it's been busy in many ways, sort of exhausting, I think, for a lot of folks. But I would also say productive. And, you know, a lot of times I don't equate volume, like number of votes with actually accomplishment or getting things done. But I think in this case, it's been a very productive Senate, too, in terms of the things that we've accomplished.

[Tim Rice]

Definitely. But despite that, it seems like the peanut gallery is still chirping. Senate can't get anything done and Senate Republicans can't get anything done. Do you think that the success of the one big beautiful bill almost sort of hurt you from a PR perspective? Do you think that bundling so much stuff into one massive piece of legislation deprived you of the opportunity to really drum home, hammer home the fact that we are accomplishing a lot?

[John Thune]

Yeah, it does in some ways because we loaded that thing up with so much of our agenda. In fact, the president's agenda, for the most part, was all accomplished accomplishing that one big, beautiful bill, whether it's national security or the border energy tax policy. You know, school choice has been a priority for the movement for a long time. Newborn accounts, childcare, the farm bill. I mean, we basically wrote the farm bill in the one big, beautiful bill, too. And then it actually included the biggest spending reduction literally in history and something that if you're a fiscal conservative like I am, we're really proud to be able to point to. But it does. It packs so much into one big piece of legislation. And it was a, you know, just getting that across the finish line was a Herculean task. And if you'd spread that out, you know, these things over a long period of time like we would normally do then it would look like a lot of stuff. But where the other things were getting done, too. I mean, we've processed the President's noms and we've done 24. Now, what we call continuing resolute, I should say, Congressional Review act resolutions of disapproval, which undoes a lot of the Biden damage by repealing a lot of the burdensome Biden regulations and frees up energy production in this country and a whole range of other things. And we've had some bipartisan accomplishments, too, so it's been busy just in terms of volume of votes and time and then in session, all that, too. But I think also, I would argue, very productive, but doing it all in one big, a lot of that one big package does. Yeah. Then it gets the peanut gallery going like, why aren't you guys doing anything this week? You know, so well.

[Tim Rice]

So let's, let's, let's unpack that. Let's, let's, let's, let's, you know, let's. We can give you an opportunity to make up for the press conferences that you maybe didn't have. What would you say are. I'm trying to limit you to three. What would you say are the three most important or maybe important parts of the big beautiful bill that people don't know about? Feel free to answer however you want, but give us a peek inside.

[John Thune]

Well, I think first off, and I would say, because I think the first job we have, and I always tell people, if you don't get national security right, the rest is conversation. So we really made up for the Biden years when they weren't funding the military. We put money in there to build the wall at the border and to close the border, which the president has effectively and successfully. But we needed to make sure that we had not only border wall money, but we had personnel for border patrol agents, detention facilities, all the things that we needed to do that were backed up. And so I kind of put it in the category of making the country safer and more secure. And so I would say that was the first and foremost thing. And then it's about making the country more prosperous. And I think the tax policy will be really key to that. I would argue that not only extending the policies from 2017, which included lower rates for families and doubling of the child tax cred, near doubling of the standard deduction, and there's a 199A deduction for small businesses in there, but we also did no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, reduced taxes for seniors on Social Security. So I think the tax policy in and of itself is going to be enormously stimulative to the economy. You look at bonus depreciation, interest deductibility, R and D expensing. Those are all things that on the business side, I think it's going to lead to growth in the economy and better paying jobs. So I think that people are going to see a better future as a result of the economic pieces of it. And then there's a whole bunch of other things that I would kind of put in there together. I mentioned some of them having to do with just policies that we think are consistent with conservative view how this country ought to be run. You know, I mean, given, you know, the school choice policies have been something that's been a part of our agenda for a long time. You look at these newborn accounts and what a difference that will make in the lives of families and young people who are being born today to be able to put money aside for their futures. Those are all incentives in this bill that I think are just going to do a better quality of life for a lot of the American people.

[Tim Rice]

Yeah. Now, of all those policies, I noticed that you didn't mention health care. And I know that there wasn't not much of a health care component in the big beautiful bill, but that is, of course, once again the topic du jour here on Capitol Hill. So what's going on? What's your thinking on this and what's the caucus's thinking on this? What are the next steps? I mean, the president's been very clear about what he wants to see. The Democrats have been very clear to the point of shutting the government down about what they want to see. What do you hope the Congress and the President can accomplish on the healthcare front?

[John Thune]

I think first and foremost, and we did do some of this in the one big beautiful bill, but rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, we did that in the Medicaid program. We put work requirements in something and then there were states had figured out how to game the program. And so we clamped down on some of that and we achieved a significant amount of savings there. And then we put in this rural hospital transformation fund, which for if you've got represented rural hospitals like I do, I think the states are going to take full advantage of that in trying to ensure that we've got health care that's accessible to people all across the country, including in rural areas. But I think to your Point, the Democrats view of this is to extend Obamacare and particularly pieces of Obamacare that are rife with waste, fraud and abuse. And our approach on that has always been, you know, let's instead of enriching the insurance companies and the way this thing is structured, particularly these enhanced Biden subsidies, structured in a way that incentivizes insurance companies to auto enroll people. So you got a lot of people out there who don't even know they're covered, don't know they have insurance because they're not paying any. They got $0 premiums. They're auto enrolled by the insurance company which is getting the payment directly from the government. There are no income caps. So now you've got people making five or six hundred thousand dollars a year who are getting subsidies from the federal taxpayers on health insurance. So that model, that business model is not what we are for. What we do believe makes sense is a model that creates for expansion of health savings accounts and putting the money back in the pockets of people in this country, incentivizing them to buy the insurance that makes sense for them rather than buying the insurance the government tells them they have to buy. And so they get a better rate, lower premium and better access to coverage. And I think those are things, those are elements of healthcare policy that we think make sense and none of which were included in what the Democrats voted on last week or, or what the Democrats in the House are trying to get done over there now.

[Tim Rice]

Yeah, now we've covered legislation that's obviously the main job of the Senate. But another big part is nominations. Right. Confirming the President's nominees. This was the first year of presidential administration, a Republican presidential administration. It's almost hard to remember how many people have been confirmed and how many nominees went through. So can you just kind of give us the year in review, a look back at that?

[John Thune]

Well, I will tell you this, Tim. One of the reasons we cast so many votes this year, early on especially, is because the Democrats took unprecedented steps to basically blow up the nominations process. President Trump is the first president in history who didn't have one of his nominees to a position in his administration confirmed either by voice vote or unanimous consent in the Senate, which is a way of taking non controversial nominees and being able to move them and get them in their position. The Democrats were so dug in fighting President Trump that even the most non controversial positions in his administration, they forced us to do the long way. So we spent the first six months doing it the long way and it just got to the point where the President is sitting there, he's got all these vacant positions. He can't run the government because he doesn't have his people in place. And I think when the people vote for a president, that's what they're voting for. They want him to be able to assemble his team and get him in place. So we made some tweaks, some changes in the rules that enables us to move them now in stacks. That'll put us over 400 for the year, which is well ahead of us, ahead not only of his first term in office, but Biden as well. And it just makes sense to me. It's about if you want your government to run and function effectively and efficiently. And I think most Americans do, they want to see a president get his team in place. So we've been keeping our heads down and getting that done. Great.

[Tim Rice]

Switching gears a little bit to a more somber topic. I know you've been asked a lot about the rise of political violence, but it seems and anti Semitic violence and I think we can safely add it back into the mix now. Continuing and perhaps resurgent threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Obviously this is a big issue. This is an issue that the President is very much concerned about and it's something that the whole of government and the world is going to have to deal with. But for your part, as the Senate Majority leader, as a senator, as an American, what do you think should be done on this? What do you hope to accomplish? Anything. Looking forward to the new Year. What sort of role do you want the Senate to play in combating these threats?

[John Thune]

Well, I think like most Americans, I want people to be able to live. And I think the question, basic question most Americans ask is, am I safe? Is my family safe? Is my neighborhood safe? Is my community safe? My world safe? And these days there was so much, like you said, going on and these attacks that have been in the news lately, it raises a lot of those questions for people in this country. I do think that the President's clear eyed focus on making our community safer, his investment in securing the border, working with us, his investment in America's national security and projecting a policy of peace through strength around the world are all things that contribute to keeping people in this country safe. But when you see things like what happened in Australia or even things that, you know, some of these horrible incidents here in the United States, they're really tragic. And you know, there's a lot going on out there right now. And I think that the best thing we can do is try to put in place the the things that our law enforcement needs, that our military needs to deter bad behavior. And then of course, obviously, when it happens, make sure that people are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And I think the president's focus on law enforcement and on security is very, in a clear eyed way, focused on that. But I do think that we want to be good partners in that and contributing where we can. If that's a function of resources, if that's a function of ensuring that they're the right personnel, you got the teams in place in different areas of our government that can oversee and try and ensure that we have security and safety in this country. We're all in on that. Like I said, that's the most important in my view, job of a government is to provide safety for the public, the people that you serve and represent.

[Tim Rice]

Great. Well, Senator, thank you again for taking the time. It's been an incredible year and looking forward to see what you guys come up with in 2026.

[John Thune]

Thanks, Tim. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Absolutely.

[Narrator/Announcer]

That was Daily Wire D.C. bureau Chief Tim Rice speaking with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. And this has been a special edition of Morning Wire.

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