{"id":2503880,"date":"2025-10-28T13:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T17:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thune-sours-on-rifle-shot-bills-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T13:34:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T17:34:20","slug":"thune-sours-on-rifle-shot-bills-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thune-sours-on-rifle-shot-bills-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Thune sours on \u2018rifle shot\u2019 bills &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthune-sours-on-rifle-shot-bills-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2503880&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and other Republicans are losing enthusiasm for passing individual &#8220;rifle shot&#8221; bills to reopen parts of the government amid the ongoing shutdown. These targeted bills would provide pay to air traffic controllers and troops affected by the shutdown, and also maintain the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-democrats-have-proposed-a-new-1-9-trillion-covid-relief-package-heres-whats-in-it\/\" title=\"House ... Have Proposed A New .9 Trillion COVID Relief Package. Here\u2019s What\u2019s In It.\">food stamps program<\/a>, but Democrats have rejected them, demanding healthcare concessions tied to funding legislation. While some GOP-backed stand-alone bills have bipartisan support and could pass, leadership favors pushing for a clean, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-calls-on-congress-to-move-forward-on-raising-debt-ceiling\/\" title=\"Biden Calls On Congress To \u2018Move Forward\u2019 On Raising Debt Ceiling\">short-term funding bill<\/a> without policy riders. The White House has partially eased the impact by using alternative funds to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-to-pay-service-members-travel-costs-for-abortions\/\" title=\"Pentagon To ... Service Members\u2019 Travel Costs for Abortions\">pay service members<\/a> and support welfare programs, reducing pressure on lawmakers. Though, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >shutdown continuing past 28 days<\/a>, key funding deadlines approaching, and political dynamics shifting-especially after upcoming elections in Virginia and healthcare open enrollment-both parties remain in a standoff, with republicans indicating they may hold firm until a complete government reopening deal is reached.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Thune sours on &lsquo;rifle shot&rsquo; bills as Republicans eye shutdown endgame<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2385540\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Republicans are souring on a strategy to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government-shutdown\/\">reopen the government<\/a> piecemeal, with GOP leadership all but shelving bills to help air traffic controllers and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/military\/\">troops<\/a> going without pay during the shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a high level of interest in doing carve-outs, or so-called rifle shots,&rdquo; Senate Majority Leader <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-thune\/\">John Thune<\/a> (R-SD) said on Tuesday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3865877\/bernie-sanders-rediscovers-borders-immigration-will-democrats\/\">Bernie Sanders rediscovers borders. Will Democrats?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3865685\/senate-democrats-gop-tariff-fight-supreme-court-legality\/\">Senate Democrats reignite GOP tariff fight as Supreme Court weighs legality<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3864920\/upcoming-deadlines-government-shutdown-snap-funding-cuts\/\">Four key funding cliffs near as government shutdown continues with no deal in sight<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>For weeks, Republicans have been bringing to the floor stand-alone bills that pay federal workers or, in one case, fund the entire Pentagon, but Democrats have rejected each as they demand healthcare concessions as part of any funding deal.<\/p>\n<p>The bill on air traffic controllers, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3860790\/thune-teases-shutdown-votes-pay-troops-air-traffic-controllers\/\">first reported<\/a> by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, could actually have the votes to pass, as the four-week shutdown creates delays at airports across the country.<\/p>\n<p>The same can be said of a separate bill to keep the food stamps program running. Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/josh-hawley\/\">Josh Hawley<\/a> (R-MO) has expressed interest in bringing the legislation, which has attracted <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-bill\/3024\/cosponsors\">bipartisan support<\/a>, to the floor ahead of a Nov. 1 funding cliff.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3863496\/shutdown-fight-deepens-thune-chilly-relationship-schumer\/\"><strong>THUNE&rsquo;S CHILLY RELATIONSHIP WITH SCHUMER IN DEEP FREEZE THANKS TO SHUTDOWN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Still, Republicans are betting the pressure points could soon be enough to attract the Democratic support for a &ldquo;clean,&rdquo; short-term funding bill that passed the GOP House last month.<\/p>\n<p>That bill will fail for a 13th time later Tuesday, with just three crossover votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster expected to join Republicans. But Republicans have managed to peel off three other Democrats for some stand-alone measures, while Democrats face increasing pressure from traditional allies.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the largest union for federal employees urged Democrats to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3865093\/federal-workers-union-democrats-pass-gop-funding-bill\/\">drop their demand<\/a> for expiring <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/obamacare\/\">Obamacare<\/a> subsidies as part of funding negotiations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Democrats could also feel more comfortable ending their blockade sometime next week after Virginia, home to a large number of federal workers, holds statewide elections, and open enrollment begins for the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/affordable-care-act\/\">Affordable Care Act<\/a> plans affected by the subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats had been hoping open enrollment would spur Republicans to cave in the shutdown fight, with a spike in premiums driving political pressure, but GOP leadership has shown no signs of relenting from their insistence on a funding bill free of policy provisions.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Thune and House Speaker <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mike-johnson\/\">Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-LA) have said they would negotiate a possible Obamacare deal after the government reopens.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Republicans will decide on whether to abandon the &ldquo;rifle shot&rdquo; votes when they gather with Vice President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\">JD Vance<\/a> for lunch on Tuesday afternoon, but Thune gave his clearest signal yet on Tuesday that he is returning to the all-or-nothing stance he first embraced at the outset of the shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think most people recognize the way to get out of this mess is to vote to open up the government,&rdquo; Thune said.<\/p>\n<p>The White House&rsquo;s decision to pay service members earlier this month, finding unspent funds to do so, blunted the pressure on Congress, as did its decision to keep a welfare program for low-income mothers afloat.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3862037\/john-thune-offense-democrats-healthcare-debate-alternative-obamacare-subsidies\/\"><strong>THUNE GOES ON OFFENSE AS DEMOCRATS FORCE HEALTHCARE DEBATE: &lsquo;GOT TO HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE&rsquo;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But troops could still miss their next paycheck, while the administration says its hands are tied on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-concerned-about-massive-spending-bill-internal-policy-doc-shows\/\" title=\"GOP Concerned About Massive Spending ..., Internal Policy Doc Shows\">food stamp funding<\/a>, which supports 42 million people in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The White House has &hellip; all the pain dials turned back just to zero or one as best they can, but when you&rsquo;re out of resources, they go all the way up,&rdquo; Johnson said at a Tuesday press conference marking the 28th day of the shutdown. &ldquo;And it&rsquo;s out of their hands, it&rsquo;s out of our hands.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thune cools on &#8216;rifle shot&#8217; bills as GOP eyes shutdown endgame<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2503881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25294673054108-e1761668906512.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4762,5894,66023,23610],"class_list":["post-2503880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-legislation","tag-politics","tag-rifle-shot-bills","tag-thune"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25294673054108-e1761668906512.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2503880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2503887,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503880\/revisions\/2503887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2503881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2503880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2503880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2503880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}