Pragmatic, close to McConnell and now aligned with Trump: John Thune, the new Senate Republican leader

Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will finish his term as Republican leader of the Senate on Jan. 3. His 17 years at the helm of the Republican conference is the longest leadership in the history of the Senate, surpassing by a few years the record of Mike Mansfield (D-MT). His replacement will be John Thune (R-SD), a 63-year-old Republican and McConnell's favorite for the post. After weeks of speculation, he prevailed against Rick Scott and John Cornyn in a tight internal election highlighted by Donald Trump's neutrality.

After a first round of voting in which Scott was eliminated, Thune prevailed in a tight 29-24 win over Cornyn, who subsequently announced he will seek re-election in 2026. However, he is expected to face some challenges in the primary.

"Republicans have a mandate from the American people to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda and to deliver on President Trump’s priorities — our work starts today," Thune said after being elected as the new majority leader, also adding that the Republican majority is on a mission to "clean up the mess" of the Democrats.

Who is John Thune?

Currently 63 years old, he has been in Republican politics since 1985, when he began working for Senator James Abdnor. He later served as executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party for two years, which caught the attention of then-governor George S. Mickelson, who appointed him as the state's new railroad director, a position he held from 1991 to 1993.

In 1996, he arrived in Congress after being elected South Dakota's only representative in the House of Representatives. Despite starting far behind, he defeated Lieutenant Governor Carole Hillard in the Republican primary.

Since then, he began to forge an image of respect among his colleagues, which he was also able to carry into the Senate. After a first frustrated attempt in 2002, when he lost by 524 votes, he made history by defeating Democrat Tom Daschle, Senate minority leader, in 2004. This is the equivalent of Chuck Schumer losing his seat in the upcoming midterm elections. Daschle then became the first leader to lose an election since 1952.

It took him barely two years to move up the Senate food chain, given that in 2006, he was elected senior deputy GOP leader and in 2009, he became the fourth highest-ranking Republican in the Senate.

Around that time he was considered a running mate for John McCain, who eventually opted for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. He flirted with a presidential adventure in 2012 and quickly scrapped the idea. Years later, he said his "window" to run for president had closed in 2012 when he was also shuffled by Mitt Romney's campaign to join him on the ticket.

He rose to third in the Republican conference in 2011 and second in 2019 when he also served as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Thune is valued by his Republican colleagues, particularly for his teamwork, ability to appeal to all factions of the party and his fundraising skills. Ideologically, he is considered a traditional 1980s Republican. The Heritage Foundation gives him a 62% rating, which aligns with the Republican average. However, his statistic drops to 36% in this Congress.

At the same time, the senator is passionate about basketball and racing. Indeed, in 2012,Runner's World Magazine called him "the fastest man in Congress since 2009."

Relationship with Donald Trump

John Thune and Donald Trump didn't get off to the best start. For example, the senator initially refused to say whether he would support the mogul if he won the Republican nomination in 2016. Months later, he publicly called for him to decline his candidacy following the release of the Hollywood Access audios.

Once Trump was in the White House, the South Dakota senator helped him pass his agenda on Capitol Hill, polling an average of 91% with the White House position.

The good feeling broke down after the 2020 presidential election when Thune strongly opposed the then-president's comments on the results, earning him several attacks on social media.

"Republicans in the Senate so quickly forget. Right now they would be down 8 seats without my backing them in the last Election. RINO John Thune, 'Mitch’s boy,' should just let it play out. South Dakota doesn’t like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!" Trump tweeted.

As revealed on CNN, Thune did not want to run for re-election in 2022 because he believed Trump would field a primary challenger. After failing to convince Governor Kristi Noem to do so, Trump endorsed no one in that race, allowing Thune to easily pass the first and be re-elected with 68% of the vote.

The disconnect continued until the 2024 election when the senator endorsed the candidacy of his colleague Tim Scott for president. When it was already clear that Trump would be the nominee, the senator began working to recompose the relationship.

The two met at Mar-a-Lago in March of this year and, according to CNN, have spoken on several occasions since then, cultivating a better relationship. Thune also reached out to the chairmen of Trump's transition team, Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon.

Although his supporters clearly supported Rick Scott's candidacy, Trump decided to remain neutral in the election for the new majority leader, in which Thune ultimately prevailed.

"I just got off the phone with Donald Trump. Senate Republicans are excited and ready to get to work implementing President Trump’s agenda on behalf of the American people," the senator said on X.

What is the Senate majority leader doing?

Bloomberg recently interviewed two former Senate majority leaders, Trent Lott and Daschle, to explain how the leader's power works in the Senate.

"The leader in the Senate controls everything. He can block every Amendment, he can keep the senate in session till hell freeze is over and the secret is to know when to let him go and when to make them stay,"  Lott explained. He also added that there is a lot of power in the ability to grant the floor in the House.

"Occupying the front-row desks on the center aisle in the Senate Chamber, the leaders pay close attention to floor action. They open and close the day's proceedings, keep legislation moving, and protect the rights and interests of party members. When several senators are seeking recognition at the same time, the presiding officer of the Senate will call on the majority leader first, then on the minority leader, and then on the managers of the bill being debated. This right of first recognition enables the majority leader to offer amendments, substitutes, and motions to reconsider before any other senator," the Senate's website explained. 

The choice of leader depends on the party, but currently, Republicans and Democrats do it in much the same way. The members themselves, the senators of each party, elect their leader every two years.

One party at a time, they meet behind closed doors in the old Senate chamber, where the leadership candidates give their respective speeches to convince their colleagues. At the end of this process, a secret ballot is cast in a ballot box and the votes are counted as they are cast. Once this process is completed, whoever obtains the most votes will be the party leader.

Unlike the House of Representatives, where the process to elect the speaker is public and you need a majority of the total members to be elected, in the Senate, you only need a majority of the members of your party to become leader. Whether that person will be the majority or minority leader will then depend on the number of senators in the party.