Sen. John Thune becomes next Senate majority leader

WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, Senate Republicans picked their new Senate majority leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. He’ll replace longtime GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who is stepping aside from the job after nearly two decades.

During a press conference Wednesday, Thune said he will "work to make America prosperous again."

"We are excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President Trump's agenda," he told reporters. "We have a mandate from the American people: A mandate, not only to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda, but also to deliver on President Trump's priorities. 

He added, "We will make sure that the president and his team have the tools and the support that they need to enforce border security laws and to remove the violent criminals who are wreaking havoc in every one of our states. We will work to make America prosperous again by streamlining the bureaucratic machine and overturning costly Biden-Harris regulations."

He continued. "I'm excited to get to work, to with this team right away,  and I want to thank my colleagues who placed their faith in me to serve as leader. And to those who were supporting another candidate, I promise to be a leader who serves the entire Republican conference. We'll have an ambitious agenda and it will take each and every Republican working together to be successful."

The race to succeed McConnell has heated up since Election Day, when Republicans flipped the upper chamber of Congress after four years of a GOP minority. 

Some Republican senators had already publicly endorsed their picks, and with Trump now entering a second term emboldened by his sweeping presidential victory, he was already signaling that he expects Senate Republicans, and by extension, their new leader, to fall in line behind his Cabinet selections.

It took two rounds of closed-door voting to get a winner, with Sen. Rick Scott eliminated in the first round, leaving Thune and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas as the two finalists.

Who is Sen. John Thune?

John Thune is currently serving as the senior U.S. senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005. He is also the current Senate minority whip, the number two position in Senate Republican leadership, and a post he has held since 2021. 

A member of the Republican Party, Thune also served three terms as the U.S. representative for South Dakota’s at-large congressional district from 1997 to 2003.

For the 118th Congress, John serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Finance Committee. 

On Wednesday, Thune released a statement criticizing the Biden-Harris administration and said that the GOP has the chance to "turn the page on this expensive and reckless chapter of American history" with its new Senate majority.

He added that he was optimistic "our majority will grow stronger, and we can continue our work together to create a safer and more secure country for every American."

Other possibilities

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas

U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas has served in the Senate since 2002.

A San Antonio native, Cornyn sits on the Senate Finance, Intelligence, and Judiciary Committees and served as GOP's whip before Thune.

Cornyn also served on the Texas Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997 and was his home state's attorney general from 1999-2002 before serving in Congress.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Texas conservative said that Americans had "roundly rejected Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrat majority’s years of disastrous border policies, reckless spending, and failed management that has caused the Senate to lurch from one avoidable crisis to the next." 

Last week, he said Schumer has "broken the Senate" but said he was "confident our new conservative majority can restore our institution to the essential role it serves in our constitutional republic."

Cornyn added:  "From my experience both as Whip advancing President Trump’s agenda through the Senate to serving as a rank-and-file member now, I have learned what works and what does not … As I’ve said, this election is not about us but rather what is best for the conference and the nation. I look forward to working with President Trump and our new conservative majority to make America great again by making the Senate work again."

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri endorsed Cornyn.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida

Republican Rick Scott, who was selected for a second term last week, has been a junior U.S. senator from Florida since 2019. He was also the 45th governor of the sunshine state from 2011 to 2019.

Senators who are close to Trump, such as Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, endorsed Scott, as have tech mogul Elon Musk.

"We have to be the change," Scott said on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures." "That’s what Donald Trump got elected to do, to be the change."

Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee also endorsed Scott.

Scott's communications director, McKinley Lewis, said in a statement shared with Politico that "as Senate Republican leader, Senator Scott will bring Florida's winning conservative record to Washington and be a true ally to President Trump to execute his agenda and fundamentally change the direction of this country."

All three candidates sought support from Trump

All three courted Trump's support in the race, promising that they would be more open and transparent than McConnell was and that they would give senators more power to get their priorities to the floor. 

They also tried to make clear that they would have a much different relationship with Trump than McConnell, who once called the former president a "despicable human being" behind closed doors.

In a statement on X and Truth Social, Trump said that the next leader "must agree" to allow him to make appointments when the chamber is on recess, bypassing a confirmation vote.

"Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner," Trump posted, adding that positions should be filled "IMMEDIATELY!"

The Senate has not allowed presidents to make so-called recess appointments since a 2014 Supreme Court ruling limited the president’s power to do so. Since then, the Senate has held brief "pro-forma" sessions when it is out of town for more than 10 days so that a president cannot take advantage of the absence and start filling posts that have not been confirmed.

But with Trump’s approval paramount in the race, all three candidates quickly suggested that they might be willing to reconsider the practice.

Scott replied to Trump, "100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible." And Thune said in a statement that they must "quickly and decisively" act to get nominees in place and that "all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments."