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By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New U.S. Senate Republican leader John Thune will face the test of his career when Donald Trump returns to power next month as he aims to control the new president’s priorities through Congress while protecting his chamber’s authority over elections and spending. .
A 20-year veteran of the Senate, the 63-year-old South Dakotan is known as an affable negotiator adept at finding common ground between opposing factions. He will become majority leader on Jan. 3, when his party’s new 53-47 majority is sworn in.
Thune will need to maintain a positive relationship with the sometimes irascible and unpredictable Trump, who once sought to impeach him and who has shown little interest in the Senate’s role as a check on the executive branch.
He will be tasked with overseeing the confirmation of a norm-breaking array of cabinet nominees; fulfilling Trump’s agenda of tax cuts, border security and energy deregulation and preventing a potential US debt default on over $36 trillion sometime next year.
“He’s coming into the position of majority leader during one of the most contentious and consequential years the Senate has had in a generation,” said Brian Riddle, a former Senate aide who is now a senior fellow at the right-wing Manhattan Institute. “It will truly be a trial by fire.”
Thune’s first test will be overseeing confirmation hearings for controversial Trump Cabinet picks, including Pete Hegsett for secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services and Cash Patel as FBI Director.
Members of Thune’s conference expressed quiet concern about all four, whose resumes are unlike those of previous candidates for powerful jobs. Since one of Trump’s picks, former congressman Matt Gaetz, dropped out of his bid for attorney general, Trump’s allies have stepped up pressure on Senate Republicans to get behind his other nominees.
For weeks, Thune avoided addressing the candidates’ qualifications, saying only that each candidate would have to answer questions at a public hearing and then face a Senate vote. Some Trump supporters say the stance is not strong enough for their taste.
“The Senate Majority Leader’s job is to make sure that qualified cabinet nominees from his president’s party get confirmed,” said Mike Davis, a former Senate Republican aide who is the founder and president of the Article III Project.
Davis said his pro-Trump advocacy group has already directed tens of thousands of people to call and email vacillating Senate Republicans and “light them up” on social media.
“If those qualified candidates fail, that’s John Thune’s failure,” Davis said.
In an interview with Fox News last week, Thune expressed her respect for Trump’s nominees, saying, “I give wide latitude and respect to the president when he makes these choices.” We’ve got work to do, advice and consent, and we’re going to do it and make sure there’s a process that’s fair.”
Thune survived a pressure campaign from members of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, who wanted Sen. Rick Scott as council leader instead.
That victory came in a secret ballot held behind closed doors, but the cabinet vote will be held in public on the Senate floor.
‘INSTITUTIONALIST AT HEART’
Thune, whose current six-year term runs through 2028, has strong support in South Dakota, which has insulated him from Trump’s hopes of mounting a primary challenger in 2022 after criticizing Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
He said he plans to protect the Senate’s power and traditions, which include the power to confirm or deny the president’s cabinet picks and its “filibuster” rule, which requires 60 of 100 senators to agree on most bills — meaning he sometimes Democratic support may be needed.
“The Senate here is designed to be a place where things slow down, to be more thoughtful and to give a voice to the minority,” Thune told reporters this month. “Obviously, as we’ve said before, the filibuster is non-negotiable.
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, said he has “respect” for the filibuster and that he has a “very good relationship” with Tun.
Thune entered the Senate in 2005 with a reputation as a giant killer, having unseated then-Majority Leader Sen. Tom Daschle, who had led the House Democrats for the previous decade.
Daschle expressed his respect for Thune in the interview.
“I have confidence in John Thune,” Daschle said. “He is an institutionalist at heart.”
Thune’s allies say the former high school basketball star has the acumen to outwit lawmakers unwilling to toe the party line on critical votes. It’s a skill both Thune and his House colleague, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, will need to start the year with a narrow 217-215 majority next year.
“What you see in him at times is a competitive athlete. That’s the same kind of spirit,” Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer told reporters. “I suspect he has pretty sharp elbows on the basketball court.”
Trump and his supporters can expect nothing less — and appear ready to back down if some Senate Republicans try to deviate from his priorities. Trump has already indicated that he will resort to recess to make nominations if the Senate does not support his picks.
“They are all highly qualified men and women who have the talent, experience and necessary skills to make America great again, and we expect members of the Senate to recognize that during the confirmation process,” said Trump-Vance transition spokesman Colton Snedekor. statement.
Philip Wallach, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said Thune may face pressure from hard-line conservatives uninterested in Senate tradition: “There are an awful lot of people coming into the new administration who just think of Congress as a pain in the ass.”
