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John Thune elected new Republican leader in the Senate

Donald Trump's administration hasn't even started and he's already suffered his first loss:

Senate Republicans chose Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to be their new leader, rejecting an outside pressure campaign from Donald Trump’s allies to break with the establishment in the secret-ballot election, according to two people familiar with the vote.

Thune, a close ally of retiring leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), has been critical of Trump in the past but has worked to repair that relationship in recent months. He reassured senators in a closed-door meeting that he would work hand in glove with the new administration and would not butt heads with Trump even on issues such as continuing U.S. aid for Ukraine, which Trump opposes, senators said.

Thune was always the favorite, so this is no surprise—and Trump himself wisely kept his mouth shut about it. Thune will, of course, be a normal staunch Republican partisan, but he's probably the best we could hope for. He's not a firebrand conservative and he'll likely show at least a little spine in standing up to Trump.

28 thoughts on “John Thune elected new Republican leader in the Senate

    1. Joseph Harbin

      A friend used to tell me we'd never get through four years of Trump without a 50% market crash. We had dinner early in 2020 and he admitted we'd been lucky so far but there was still another year to go. We met again in February when a new virus was in the news, and we agreed it was something to worry about. A month later I called when the market was down more than 30%, and I left a message saying his prediction might come true after all. In retrospect, that was actually the bottom. I left more messages but never heard back, until another friend called with the news that my friend had died.

      Some things, especially the future, you just never know.

      It's been more than twenty years since I had thought the Republican Party had hit bottom. I was wrong. The odds are good I'll live another twenty or more, and I'm afraid I won't see the bottom in my lifetime.

      1. Doctor Jay

        Yeah, this is where I am. All my predictions are garbage, except the predictions about how people I care about are going to suffer.

      2. painedumonde

        Sweet Ceiling Cat, that's a rough story. My silly joke didn't deserve such a reply. I am not hopeless, it appears you aren't either. Let's head for the horizon together.

  1. Joseph Harbin

    This would be an unusual idea for a representative democracy, but maybe the Senate could start using secret ballots for all votes.

    Outcomes probably better than the alternative.

  2. KenSchulz

    “he'll likely show at least a little spine in standing up to Trump.”
    Is that measured in nanospines? Picospines? Femtospines?

    1. deathawaits

      Don't kid yourself, you are going to need imaginary numbers to measure it at any scale. We will simply be told, "well we tried."

  3. Jimbo

    Thune won't be up for re-election until 2028, so he won't need to worry about a MAGA primary threat to force kowtowing to Trump. Besides, Trump already tried that in 2022. Didn't work.

  4. realrobmac

    Thune is about as good as we could hope for. He'll be horrible but at least will not be MAGA horrible. I also don't have a major problem with Rubio as Secretary of State. We could do so much worse.

      1. Yehouda

        Secretary of State doesn't have much effect on what happens inside the US, so Trump doesn't mind giving it to Rubio, in return for getting a far more compliant senator from Florida.

        1. KenSchulz

          Will he? DeSantis will appoint the person to fill Rubio's seat until the next general election. Might DeSantis appoint himself?

          1. Yehouda

            Trump clearly believes he will get a sycophant, otherwise he wouldn't nominate Rubio. I would expect him to already have agreement with DeSantis who it is going to be.

    1. Srho

      Would imagining "much worse" make me feel better?

      Secretary of State Rand Paul. 😬
      Ron Johnson. Tommy Tuberville. Josh Hawley. Lindsey Graham.

      Hmm. Still feel crummy.

  5. OldFlyer

    I'm very disappointed in Schumer

    ZERO should be done in Senate chambers till January
    no votes, floor debates, confirmations
    Senate Leaders, Cabinet, nothing !

    Until GOP can get the House to at least discuss the immigration bill, nothing should get done in the senate. You guys can take votes in the cafeteria during lunch then hit the ground running in January

    "Politics is tough"

    1. cmayo

      You know that Schumer doesn't have anything to do with what Trump will do in 2025, right?

      You DO know that Schumer SHOULD be doing lots of stuff with Biden and the other D senators while they still have a majority for the next 60 days, right?

      1. OldFlyer

        I also know that the GOP Senate screwed Obama out of TWO supreme court justices, and many (many) federal judges.

        This is Donnie's "politics is rough" congress. I can't think of more appropriate payback

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