WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune on Wednesday to be the chamber’s next majority leader in a secret, closed-door election.
When Thune takes over in January, it will be the first time since 2007 that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell failed to cling to the top spot in the GOP after deciding to step down as chairman.
Thune defeated Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott in the vote.
“I am extremely honored to have won the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am extremely proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House,” Thune said in a written statement. “This team of Republicans is united in President Trump’s agenda and our work begins today.”
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who ran unopposed, will become majority whip in the next Congress, taking the other seat in the Senate.
President-elect Donald Trump had he made demands the future leader of the Senate Republican Party ahead of the election, writing on social media that whoever is elected should leave the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process.
Cornyn, Scott and Thune quickly adapted with their own social media posts about so-called halftime meetings.
Thune wrote: “We must act quickly and decisively to fill the presidential nominees as quickly as possible and all options are being considered to make this happen, including a recess appointment. We cannot allow Schumer and the Senate to block the will of the American people.” Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, is the Senate majority leader.
Veteran South Dakota lawmaker
Thune, 63, was elected to the Senate in 2004 after six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He currently holds the title of Republican Whip, but has served as vice chairman of the Republican Conference, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, chairman of the Republican Conference and chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Thune has delivered dozens of speeches and press conferences during his tenure in the Senate, but he emphasized his support for bipartisanship in April 2021, applauding Democrats, who were in the majority, for working with the GOP on the legislation.
“The Senate was designed to promote moderation and consensus. “It was intended to be a check on a more partisan – or as the founders put it, partisan – House of Representatives,” Thune said during speech on the floor. “The Senate best fulfills its constitutional role when it engages in serious, bipartisan deliberation and negotiations and ensures that members of both parties are heard.”
He then urged lawmakers of both parties to adopt the framework to negotiate infrastructure legislation in the coming months.
Thune will have to break some of those beliefs over the next two years as Republicans exploit what is supposed to be unified control of the government to pass as much conservative legislation as possible through a elaborate budget reconciliation process.
This legislative path will allow Republicans to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster, which typically forces bipartisanship on major legislation.
The Republican Party used this procedure to try to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during the first Trump administration, but to no avail. Republicans could have used it to pass the 2017 tax bill.
Democrats used budget reconciliation to approve a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package and their signature climate change, health care and tax package called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the first two years of the term President Joe Biden.
Thune expressed frustration during his April 2021 speech that Democrats used the process to avoid negotiations with Republican senators on the two bills.
“Our Founders established a democratic republic rather than a pure democracy because they wanted to balance majority rule with the protection of minority rights. They knew that the majority could be tyrants, so they wove minority rights protection into our system of government,” Thune said at the time. “The Senate was one of those safeguards. That’s why we should keep rules like the filibuster, which ensure that the minority party and the many Americans it represents have a voice in legislation.”
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are expected to hold a leadership election later Wednesday.
The House GOP was expected to nominate Mike Johnson of Louisiana to return as speaker, although to continue in the role he would need to secure the votes needed on the floor in January.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota were expected to remain in their positions in the next Congress.
Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.
Last updated at 1:09 PM, November 13, 2024
