South Dakota Republican John Thune is elected as the next Senate majority leader

WASHINGTON — Republicans have South Dakota Sen. John Thune as the next Senate Majority Leader, completing a momentous shift in their leadership, elevating a top delegate Mitch McConnell to a key position as president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Thune, 63, is in his fourth term in the Senate and has pledged to work closely with Trump despite disagreements the two have had over the years and will be a crucial part of the new president’s efforts to push his policy agenda. The two spoke on the phone shortly after Thune was elected, the senator reported on X on Wednesday afternoon, adding that “Senate Republicans are excited and ready to get to work” with the new president.

Trump later congratulated Thune on his social media platform Truth Social. “He will act quickly and do an excellent job,” Trump wrote. “I look forward to working with him.”

Thune defeated two other competitors, Sens. Johannes Cornyn And Rick Scottby securing the support of the majority of Republican senators in two rounds of closed-door secret ballots. Scott was eliminated in the first round and the final vote between Thune and Cornyn was 29-24, according to several people who requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Republicans are replacing McConnell, the Senate’s longest-serving party leader, as they prepare to take majority control of the Senate with the 53 seats they gained in last week’s elections. It was the first competitive election for the Republican leader in three decades and the first regime change for Republicans in the Senate since McConnell became Republican leader in 2007.

Thune’s election marks a major shift in the House Republican conference, as many senators were eager to step away from McConnell’s long and powerful reign. But it will also be a complicated test for Thune, as he will have to lead a conference often divided on policy, sidestep Trump’s demands on the legislature and secure policy victories for the president as he enters his second term begins.

“It’s a new day in the United States Senate,” Thune told reporters immediately after he was elected. He said his majority will work to tighten border security laws, lower energy costs and overturn regulations they see as burdensome.

“We are excited to regain the majority and work with our colleagues in the House of Representatives to implement President Trump’s agenda,” said Thune.

As the candidates tried to win over individual senators, all their pitches focused on how close they would be to Trump. That was a more difficult task for Cornyn and Thune, who publicly broke with the former president over his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Thune at the time called Trump’s actions “inexcusable.”

In recent months, however, Thune has worked to smooth that relationship, visiting Trump at his Florida home and consulting with him on how to implement the new president’s agenda. Thune told the Associated Press during the summer that he considers their potential relationship a professional one. If they both won the election, Thune said, “we have work to do.”

While making his case, Thune has made it clear he will listen to Trump’s demands. When Trump posted that on X Sunday the new leader “must agree” To allow him to appoint Cabinet members and others when the Senate is in recess and thus avoid confirmation votes, Thune quickly responded in a statement that the Senate must act “quickly and decisively” to get nominees in place and that “ all options are on the table.” to make that possible, including break agreements.”

Speaking to reporters after he was elected, Thune noted that “the Senate has an advice and consent rule in the Constitution,” but that they will do everything they can to put his nominees in place.

“How that happens remains to be seen,” Thune said.

Thune’s victory is all the more remarkable because of his election to the Senate in 2004, in which he defeated then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Dashle after arguing during the campaign that Daschle had lost his South Dakota roots during his years in Democratic leadership. Twenty years later, Thune himself becomes majority leader.

Thune is a well-liked and respected communicator and is seen as a frontrunner for most of the year. Like McConnell, he comes from the more traditional wing of the Republican Party.

He is a former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and held the Republican whip position – no. He was in second place in the party leadership — since 2019. Last year, he took over for McConnell for several weeks while he was on medical leave, a move that was widely seen as an audition of sorts as speculation surrounded McConnell’s future.

As he prepared to become leader, Thune spent much of the year campaigning for his colleagues. He has raised more than $31 million this cycle to elect Republicans to the Senate, including a $4 million transfer from his own campaign accounts to the Senate’s main campaign arm, according to his aides.

The election was difficult for many at the conference, who saw Thune and Cornyn as similar choices. Policy-wise, they are the same. They generally vote in lockstep with the conference, but sometimes work with Democrats. Cornyn has been a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for many years leadership role on bipartisan gun legislation two years ago.

But the two differed on whether the leader should be term-limited — a key demand by some in the conservative wing. Cornyn insisted on boundaries, while Thune did not.

Scott, the former governor of Florida, was elected to the Senate in 2018 and quickly positioned himself as an enemy of McConnell. He ran against him for leader in 2022 and joined the Utah senator. Mike Lee and others who have been highly critical of the current leadership.

While Thune and Cornyn courted their colleagues one by one throughout the year, Scott was embroiled in his own re-election race. He handy defeated Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell with a more than 10-point lead.

In the week since the election, Scott has aggressively ramped up his campaign for Republican leader, publicly campaigning as the candidate closest to Trump and drawing support from people close to the former and future president, such as billionaire Elon Musk. But some wondered whether that strategy could backfire.

Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Thune’s colleague in his home state, said he prefers the way Thune and Cornyn handled it “one-on-one with everyone” but that he has also spoken with Scott. “We have three qualified individuals,” he said before the race.

Still, both Thune and Cornyn adopted some of Scott’s ideas as they tried to win over voters. Thune told the conference in a candidates forum Tuesday night that he would allow more amendments in the chamber and improve communication from McConnell’s regime, addressing frequent complaints from that wing of the conference.

McConnell did not say who he was supporting, but said after the vote that Thune’s victory was a “clear endorsement of a perfect leader.”

“The American people elected Republicans to restore stability and order after four years of Washington Democrats’ failure,” McConnell said. “John Thune will take charge with a tremendous opportunity to lead this transformation, and Senate Republicans stand behind him, ready to lead. work.”