Republicans have elected Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as Senate majority leader. He will replace Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has held the Republican senate leadership position since 2007.
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“I am extremely honored to have earned the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House,” Thune said in a statement. “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today.”
After 17 years of service as Republican leader in the U.S. Senate, McConnell is retiring. Various factions of the right have alternately praised and cursed him over the years, but he will always be remembered as the steady hand processing President Trump 45’s judicial nominees, gifting us the nation-saving SCOTUS we currently have.
On Wednesday morning, Senate Republicans met to choose their new leader from among three candidates: South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Florida Sen. Rick Scott. Of the three, Scott was believed likeliest to pursue a purely Trumpian agenda, but he was eliminated in the first round of voting.
In the second round of voting, Thune edged out Cornyn by a single vote, 25-24, to become Senate majority leader-elect.
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Congratulations Senator John Thune for being elected as Senate majority leader pic.twitter.com/TnycgC2RtK
— Joel Fischer 🇺🇸 (@realJoelFischer) November 13, 2024
“Thune has served as Senate Republican whip, the No. 2-ranking position in the Senate GOP leadership, since 2019, and largely managed operation of the Senate floor since McConnell suffered a concussion from a fall in 2023,” reports The Hill.
Thune promised at a lengthy candidates’ forum with Cornyn and Scott, the third Republican in the leadership race, to give senators more opportunity to amend bills and to strive for more unity in the GOP conference.
He pledged to hold regular meetings with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to improve coordination with House Republicans and with Vice President-elect JD Vance to stay in sync with the Trump White House.
More importantly — at least for those eager to get Trump 47’s agenda up and running as expediently as possible — Thune has agreed to host a conference for GOP senators next month. Attendees will discuss strategies to move policy forward. They also hope to streamline and prioritize regular appropriations bills to thwart the destructive pattern of past years, where Congress is behind the eight ball and forced to pass a wasteful omnibus spending bill before year-end.
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Related:Â Chipper Biden Gives Post-Election Remarks
President-elect Trump was in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, where he met with sitting “President” Joe Biden to discuss the transition between the outgoing and incoming administrations. Biden, who had previously repeatedly called Trump a “threat to democracy,” was notably cordial and expansive towards his past rival during the men’s joint press conference. Trump was likewise gracious and friendly to the man he has repeatedly accused of stealing the 2020 election from him.Â
Trump is expected to meet with Republican Congressional leaders while he is in town.
