Senate Majority Leader John Thune has notched wins for President Donald Trump and his party. Now comes his biggest test yet: governing.
Thune must somehow balance a vengeful president, unhappy conservatives, worried GOP moderates and Democrats, all while seeking to protect the Senate’s institutional power and his own majority.
The South Dakota Republican is wrangling disparate factions of his conference on government spending, pushing for a bipartisan process while the White House continues to threaten unilateral moves that even GOP appropriators oppose.
At the same time, Trump and his closest Senate allies are prodding Thune to keep the Senate in session well into August to confirm more of the president’s nominees — something that isn’t likely to happen. While Thune is expected to tee up an extensive package of nominations at the end of the week to blow past Democratic objections, few expect the Senate to remain in session beyond early next week.
That’s because Thune and many GOP senators are eager to fan out across the country to tout the One Big Beautiful Bill and counter Democratic attacks. Yet so far, Democrats haven’t allowed a single Trump nominee to be confirmed via voice vote or unanimous consent. The president and his allies want the Senate Republicans to stay in town and grind out confirmation votes if necessary.
Let’s focus on appropriations. Thune has a unique challenge with government funding and the Sept. 30 deadline. Thune wants to pass as many bipartisan FY2026 appropriations bills as soon as possible so he can call Democrats’ bluff if they force a shutdown showdown.
But Thune’s own conservatives are holding up a consent agreement to package three funding bills together (more below). And OMB Director Russ Vought is insisting that the very things Democrats say will cause them to walk away from bipartisan funding talks — another rescissions package, impoundment and so-called “pocket rescissions” — are still on the table. That comes after Vought said the appropriations process should be “less bipartisan.”
When asked about Vought’s most recent comments, Thune indicated the Senate is charting its own course.
“What I’ve said is … let us get back to regular order on appropriations and actually start doing that again,” Thune told us. “That, to me, is the course we’re on right now. We ought to play that out.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a senior appropriator who serves on Thune’s leadership team, downplayed Vought’s threats.
“We’re working hard. We’re gonna see what happens this week with these appropriations bills. And we’ve pushed them through committee in a bipartisan way, so I think we’re soldiering through,” said Capito, who got Vought to distribute billions of dollars in education funding that was being held back.
Meanwhile, Thune’s top appropriator has complained that what Vought is suggesting is illegal. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Monday reiterated her view on “pocket rescissions” — the legally dubious process whereby if the administration sends rescissions with less than 45 days left in the fiscal year, the cuts go into effect regardless of whether Congress acts.
“Based on the analysis and legal review that I’ve done… pocket rescissions are not legal,” Collins said.
Other GOP appropriators, like Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), said it would be “better long-term” for Democrats to feel like they have a seat at the table.
Democrats have threatened to walk away from the bipartisan funding process because of the very actions Vought and Senate Republicans have taken, including the recent $9 billion rescissions package. Democrats say they’re watching Republicans’ actions closely as they support funding bills on the floor – for now.
“Pocket rescissions are illegal. Period. End of story. [Vought] knows good and well that he is not legally capable of doing that, so it would depend on what Republicans do, if they go along with that,” said Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democratic appropriator.
Minibus latest. GOP leaders are still working through a few holds from their own senators on combining the Military Construction-Veterans’ Affairs funding bill with the Agriculture and Commerce-Justice-Science bills.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he wants a provision in the Ag funding bill taken out because it would “cripple, if not destroy” the hemp industry. The language would restrict THC levels in CBD, which would harm hemp farmers in Kentucky, Paul said.
Notably, Paul wants the language to be removed from the bill before it moves forward and won’t settle for an amendment vote. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said there’s an agreement on this issue, but the procedure is being worked out.
