Thune: Regular Order, Bipartisan Results on Appropriations

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:

Thune's remarks below (as delivered):

"Mr. President, the work of the Appropriations Committee never seems to stop.

"And that's certainly been true over this past year.

"Under the leadership of Chair Collins, our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee have held hearings and markups and done the hard work of writing legislation to fund the government.

"They've reported eight full-year bills from the committee - most of them with broad bipartisan support.

"And that put us in a position to be able to pass three appropriations bills here in the Senate before the August state work period last year.

"Now, Mr. President, we hadn't passed a single government funding bill in this chamber before August since 2018.

"In 2025, we passed three of them.

"And we were able to reconcile those three bills with the House and get them signed into law in November.

"That's the way we should be passing appropriations bills: through regular order, a process that gives all senators the opportunity to make their voices - and the voices of their constituents - heard.

"Mr. President, that's a far cry from how things have too often been done around here in the past.

"In too many years, we've had massive omnibus bills being written behind closed doors.

"That's not how I wanted to operate.

"And when I became majority leader, I said that appropriations would be a priority.

"I said that I wanted to take bills through regular order to open up the process and ensure that we were making the best use of taxpayer dollars.

"And we've made considerable progress this past year getting back to regular order.

"And I hope that that progress will continue as we look ahead to the next appropriations cycle.

"But we have to finish this one first.

"Mr. President, we have a January 30 deadline to fund the remainder of the federal government.

"And we're on track to do that.

"Before we leave this week, the Senate will send another package of three bills to the president's desk.

"This package received a big bipartisan vote in the House last week.

"We had a big bipartisan vote here in the Senate earlier this week, and we're on track to pass it later today.

"And President Trump is expected to sign it into law.

"Yesterday, the House passed another package of two bills - again with broad bipartisan support.

"And I want to point out that this package - like the three-bill package we're considering in the Senate - actually spends less money than if we were to do just another continuing resolution.

"It cuts $10 billion - or more than 10 percent - from what we would expect to spend on these agencies under a continuing resolution.

"And that's thanks to our appropriators doing the hard work of going through the budget and making the tough budgeting decisions that all Americans are familiar with - whether they're running a business or managing their household budget.

"That's the result of a better process, and it's what happens when we make government funding a priority.

"Mr. President, appropriators are working on another package of the four remaining bills, which I hope will receive the same bipartisan backing that has characterized the appropriations cycle thus far.

"And before the end of the month, the Senate will need to process all of these funding bills and get them to the president's desk.

"Mr. President, appropriations doesn't always make headlines, but it is an important responsibility.

"So I want to thank our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee again for their diligence in crafting these bills.

"And I know when we finish this cycle, the next one is coming in right on its heels.

"And my hope is that we'll be able to build on the progress we've made this past year to get the appropriations process back to what it should be - an open process that every senator can participate in."

Permalink: https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2026/1/thune-regular-order-bipartisan-results-on-appropriations