Mark Straton

There are 42 states that hold bartenders accountable if the customers they over serve kill someone but 0 states that hold Judges accountable if the criminals they release kill someone. Insane.

Here’s where we stand. The Good: President Trump is paying TSA agents, and the current bill the Senate just sent over to the House re-opens DHS. ICE and Border Patrol will continue arrests and deportations, being primarily funded through the OBBB. Democrats did not succeed in sabotaging border and immigration enforcement in any substantive way. The Bad: the Senate goes on a two week recess without passing the SAVE America Act, stand-alone voter ID, or funding all of DHS through the normal process. Democrats threw a wrench into our efforts to deliver on issues which enjoy broad support among the American people. The Ugly: Congress, especially the Senate, cannot skate by relying on President Trump to solve all our problems. Republicans have to justify their majorities by fighting for permanent policy victories, not can-kicking with unrealistic reconciliation promises. If we do not stand and fight today, we will not inspire Americans in November.

This morning, the Senate passed a bill to fund many functions of the Department of Homeland Security, but it did not fund ICE and only partially funded CBP. I opposed this bill. The Democrats have made clear to the American people that they will always put illegal aliens first. This Democrat DHS shutdown was never about reforms to ICE, which the Democrats rejected over and over again, it was about amnesty for illegals and completely halting all deportations. The Democrats want to create an America with open borders, no justice against illegal aliens who kill and attack Americans, and total amnesty for the millions of illegals that they let flood into our country under the Biden administration. This is not hyperbole. It’s the truth, and Democrats have not denied it. Senator Peter Welch said on CSPAN that this entire shutdown was to start a conversation about amnesty. Then, Senator Chris Murphy said on MSNBC that the ‘undocumented’ are the people whom Democrats care about most. It is unacceptable that Democrat members of the United States Senate, who took an oath to represent American citizens and protect the United States, have so openly turned against the interests of our nation to serve those who break our laws. The time for a reckoning has come, and Republicans must now take radical action to protect the United States against the threats posed by radical Democrats. That means fully funding ICE and CBP and passing the SAVE America Act NOW. Republicans must also make sure this never happens again. Members of Congress never should have been allowed to keep getting paychecks while the people keeping our homeland secure were suffering. Congress needs to take up and pass my No Budget, No Pay Act to make it federal law that Congress won’t get paid if a single federal worker isn’t due to a shutdown. We need to get ICE and CBP reopened fully as soon as possible. It’s time for Republicans to get to work on reconciliation immediately and put an end to Democrats’ embarrassing political theater once and for all. I will not give up until we get it done.

🚨 JUST IN: Speaker Johnson says Chuck Schumer FORCED Leader John Thune and Republicans to cave on the DHS bill "I wouldn't call John Thune the engineer of this. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate have FORCED this upon the Senate. I have to protect the House."

Just to clarify what is going on. Senate went on 2 week vacation WITHOUT passing the SAVE America Act. But Thune is making sure that President Trump can make ZERO recess appointments during this period. They call themselves "Republicans", but these are NOT our people!!

CANCEL THE RECESS! I’m calling on Congress to GET BACK TO WORK and PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT NOW. West Virginians elected us to fight for secure borders, spending cuts, and America First policies — not DC vacations. Time to deliver on the America First agenda.

Hello Senator Thune, At 3 AM on Friday, March 27th, in a near-empty chamber, you passed a bill by voice vote that excludes all funding for ICE and CBP. Let me repeat that: voice vote. No roll call. No record of who was there. No accountability. Just you, Barrasso, and a handful of senators shuffling paper in the dead of night while America slept. You could have demanded a recorded vote. You chose not to. You could have held the line for five more days until the House returned. You chose not to. You could have used the same procedural tools Democrats have used against you for 40 days. You chose not to. Instead, you gave Chuck Schumer exactly what he asked for, DHS funding minus immigration enforcement, and called it a win. Then you walked to the cameras and blamed the Democrats. Let's be precise about what you did: 1. You caved to a demand Democrats made on Day 1 of this shutdown. Forty-one days of supposed hardball negotiation, and you settled for their opening offer. 2. You handed them a template. The next time Democrats want to defund any agency — ICE, CBP, or anything else — they now know: just shut down DHS and wait. John Thune will fold at 3 AM. 3. You punted to reconciliation. "Good possibility," you said. Not "we will." Not "guaranteed." Just maybe. Meanwhile, ICE operates on fumes from last year's bill with no certainty of future funding. The precedent you set: You have argued for months that the filibuster is sacrosanct. That the 60-vote threshold protects minority rights. That we cannot bend Senate rules for policy wins. But at 3 AM on Friday, you bent every norm that actually mattered: • Voice vote to avoid accountability • Empty chamber to avoid debate • Midnight deal to avoid scrutiny • Immediate recess to avoid questions You'll bend the rules to avoid a fight. You just won't bend them to win one. What you've actually accomplished: Democrats demanded ICE restrictions. They got ICE defunded. Not reformed. Not restrained. Defunded. And you're out here tweeting about how Democrats are the "Defund the Police" party while you just voted to defund border enforcement at 3 in the morning. The question you should answer: Why did this deal have to happen at 3 AM? Why couldn't it happen at 3 PM, with cameras rolling and every senator on record? You know why. Because you didn't want your voters to see what surrender looks like. Here's my message: We saw it anyway. Stop hiding behind "Democrat obstruction." You're the Majority Leader. You set the schedule. You control the floor. You chose this outcome. Own it.

Hello Senator Thune, At 3 AM on Friday, March 27th, in a near-empty chamber, you passed a bill by voice vote that excludes all funding for ICE and CBP. Let me repeat that: voice vote. No roll call. No record of who was there. No accountability. Just you, Barrasso, and a handful of senators shuffling paper in the dead of night while America slept. You could have demanded a recorded vote. You chose not to. You could have held the line for five more days until the House returned. You chose not to. You could have used the same procedural tools Democrats have used against you for 40 days. You chose not to. Instead, you gave Chuck Schumer exactly what he asked for, DHS funding minus immigration enforcement, and called it a win. Then you walked to the cameras and blamed the Democrats. Let's be precise about what you did: 1. You caved to a demand Democrats made on Day 1 of this shutdown. Forty-one days of supposed hardball negotiation, and you settled for their opening offer. 2. You handed them a template. The next time Democrats want to defund any agency — ICE, CBP, or anything else — they now know: just shut down DHS and wait. John Thune will fold at 3 AM. 3. You punted to reconciliation. "Good possibility," you said. Not "we will." Not "guaranteed." Just maybe. Meanwhile, ICE operates on fumes from last year's bill with no certainty of future funding. The precedent you set: You have argued for months that the filibuster is sacrosanct. That the 60-vote threshold protects minority rights. That we cannot bend Senate rules for policy wins. But at 3 AM on Friday, you bent every norm that actually mattered: • Voice vote to avoid accountability • Empty chamber to avoid debate • Midnight deal to avoid scrutiny • Immediate recess to avoid questions You'll bend the rules to avoid a fight. You just won't bend them to win one. What you've actually accomplished: Democrats demanded ICE restrictions. They got ICE defunded. Not reformed. Not restrained. Defunded. And you're out here tweeting about how Democrats are the "Defund the Police" party while you just voted to defund border enforcement at 3 in the morning. The question you should answer: Why did this deal have to happen at 3 AM? Why couldn't it happen at 3 PM, with cameras rolling and every senator on record? You know why. Because you didn't want your voters to see what surrender looks like. Here's my message: We saw it anyway. Stop hiding behind "Democrat obstruction." You're the Majority Leader. You set the schedule. You control the floor. You chose this outcome. Own it.

The midterms will be disastrous unless Senate Republicans take the following action: ⏺️ Republicans must immediately return to DC ⏺️ Remove Majority Leader Thune ⏺️ Install an America First majority leader ⏺️ Immediately vote to nuke the filibuster ⏺️ Pass the Save America Act ⏺️ Confirm the president's nominees ⏺️ Publicly apologize to the American people ⏺️ Publicly apologize to President Trump

Senators thought it was a good idea to leave D.C. while our homeland security hangs in the balance. Their bill provides: No pay for CBP and ICE. No funding for daily enforcement operations. No support for Border Patrol. Unacceptable. House Republicans will not tolerate this.

Did John Thune actually think a 3:00 AM deal with Democrats that provided ZERO for ICE or Border Patrol funding would fly? He just wanted to go home. REMOVE HIM.