Thune sidesteps Mike Johnson recess criticism: ‘Try not to give the House advice’

Published October 21, 2025 12:19pm ET



Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is removing himself from a House fight over Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) decision to keep lawmakers at home during the government shutdown.

“I try not to give the House advice,” Thune told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday when asked whether it is a strategic mistake to keep the House on recess for more than a month, as some of Johnson’s GOP colleagues have said.

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