Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) called for the replacement of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) after Senate Republicans passed a bill early Friday morning aimed at ending a more than 40-day partial government shutdown centered on funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Although the bill didn't include several Democratic priorities, like requiring ICE to obtain judicial warrants and banning immigration agents from using face coverings, it did not include funding for ICE or parts of Customs and Border Protection, a result Democrats hailed as a victory for their party.
The bill was swiftly blocked by House Republicans, but not before the Senate adjourned for a two-week recess without securing funding for the DHS.
This is a paradigm shift.
— Overton (@overton_news) March 29, 2026
Members of Congress are now openly calling to REPLACE John Thune as Senate leader after passing DHS bill in dead of night.
Listen to every word Rep. Tim Burchett just said about Thune.
BURCHETT: “I think he made a HUGE mistake, ma’am.”
“83% of the… pic.twitter.com/xgTpkGTQdd
"Do you think that Thune made a big mistake here?" Fox News' Shannon Bream asked on Sunday.
"I think he made a huge mistake, ma'am," Rep. Burchett replied. "Eighty-three percent of the population supports President Trump's Save America Act, which they should. He ignores that. He knew as a member of the media ought to be disgusted at the fact that they passed that thing at 2:25 in the morning and left all the other senators kind of hanging. All he had to do was have five of his cronies on the floor. He cuts a deal with Schumer."
"Obviously, the leadership in the Senate, and that's on both sides of the aisle, has a real disgust for this president and House leadership because they didn't even have the guts to call Speaker Mike Johnson and let him know what happened," he continued. "The whole deal of the stereotype of Congress is, and it's well deserved, that we pass stuff in the dark of night because we don't have any guts. That's clearly what's shown in the Senate leadership."
"I think they need to get some new leadership over there, in my opinion," he added.
Republicans have consistently slammed Sen. Thune for failing to advance President Trump’s legislative priorities. That includes not only his inability to secure funding for immigration authorities, but also his failure to pass the SAVE Act, which proponents say is a necessary step to protect elections in the United States.
Editor’s Note: Democrats are causing chaos at airports and inflicting pain on the American people simply because they want to keep illegal aliens from being deported.
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