By Mark Tapscott
WASHINGTON—Senate Republicans on Wednesday selected Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as their new leader in the 119th Congress, succeeding Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who held the post for nearly two decades.
Thune was elected after two rounds of secret ballot voting in a 29–24 vote against contender Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.), according to a source familiar with the final ballot count.
The third contender, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), was knocked out after the first ballot.
“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 told reporters after the vote. “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today.”
Republicans will hold a 53–47 majority in the upper chamber of the new Congress that was elected Nov. 5 along with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.
As vice president, Vance, 40, will serve as the Senate’s presiding officer—the third youngest man ever to hold the post.
Also on Wednesday, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) was unanimously elected as Senate Republican Whip, the No. 2 position in the leadership lineup. Sen. Shelley Moore-Capito (R-W.Va.) becomes the head of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) was chosen to head the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) will be vice chair of the policy panel, while Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) will serve as the Senate Republican Conference chairman.
McConnell, the outgoing GOP leader, had turned the position into a highly centralized operation that tightly controls the Senate schedule and committee appointments for the majority party and determines the allocation of millions in campaign donations to incumbents and challengers.
Concerns about Cornyn having to campaign for reelection while trying to manage the Senate may have hobbled his bid for Senate majority leader—he will be seeking his fifth term if he runs for reelection in 2026.
Scott had vowed to change the GOP conference’s rules to limit the majority leader to one six-year term, and to open up the legislative process to enable wider discussion and more amendments. He received 11 votes in an unsuccessful challenge to McConnell in 2022.
Scott was also haunted by his chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 2022 cycle. The GOP lost a Senate seat in a year that was widely expected to produce a “red wave” that would have swept the party back into control of Congress.
In addition, both Thune and Cornyn, by virtue of their seniority, have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions for colleagues, many of whom are still in the Senate. In the insular and highly collegial chamber that is the Senate, such favors linger long in influence on friendships among colleagues.
All three men expressed strong support for enacting Trump’s major appointments and legislative proposals during the first 100 days of his second presidency. By surpassing Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and garnering 50.2 percent of the popular vote and 312 Electoral College votes, Trump became only the second chief executive ever to win two-nonconsecutive terms in the White House.
Thune was first elected to the Senate in 2004, winning a hard-fought contest to oust then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). He previously served three terms as South Dakota’s lone member of the House of Representatives.
Thune is the only one of the three men who served as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill before seeking congressional office. He was an aide to Rep. James Abdnor (R-S.D.), who also served in the Senate.
The newly-elected GOP Senate leader describes himself as an “evangelical Christian,” but Thune has had to deal with complaints from some conservative religious leaders that he was insufficiently aggressive and outspoken on issues of concern to them.
In response to The Epoch Times’ request, Thune’s spokesman produced a lengthy list of 22 floor speeches the senator has delivered since 2017, supporting pro-life and religious liberty measures, as well as 49 legislative proposals and five Senate resolutions Thune has backed since 2020—all pro-life and pro-religious liberty.
Thune is a former South Dakota Republican Party state chairman, and was the founder, in 2005, of the Common Sense Values Political Action Committee. He received his undergraduate degree from Biola University and his Master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota.
He and his wife, Kimberley, have two daughters, Brittany and Larissa.
Other Republicans named to Senate leadership positions include Wyoming’s John Barrasso, who was unanimously selected to succeed Thune as the Senate Republican whip.
