Conservative commentator Jesse Kelly was among those who criticized Thune, writing in a post: “REMINDER: South Dakota is over 60% Republican. They could send the most hardcore anti-communist to the senate. Instead, they send this loser over and over again because the red state GOP primary voter is the dumbest, laziest voter in America.”

A Senate Republican wants to add stricter English proficiency requirements for truck drivers after an Obama-era rule change loosened standards. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., plans to introduce legislation that would add more stringent English proficiency rules for commercial truck drivers and an enforcement mechanism that would deem them "out-of-service" should they not meet the proposed standards.

Senate GOP leaders are looking to pressure Democrats to make progress on full-year spending bills that would fund the Pentagon and a handful of other federal agencies amid the government shutdown.

The government shutdown and its impacts on payments for United States troops are the focus of House Republicans‘ campaign arm’s new ad, targeting vulnerable Democrats as mudslinging between the parties amps up with no funding solution in sight.

Government shutdown continues as Senate Democrats demand Obamacare tax credit extension before supporting Senate Republicans' plan to reopen the government.

Republicans and the Trump administration are bracing for a lengthy government shutdown, taking steps to alleviate any political pain that might boomerang on them while seeking to make life difficult for Democrats.