New Republican Senate leader John Thune says the GOP is united behind "Trump's agenda"

Republicans elected Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to serve as majority leader in next Senate session, replacing current GOP caucus leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with another institutionalist distrusted by the MAGA world — but one largely willing to cooperate with President-elect Donald Trump to keep the GOP in power and pass conservative policies.

The current Republican whip prevailed over former whip Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and former National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in a closed-door secret vote held Wednesday. Prominent MAGA figures rallied behind Scott, who frequently clashed with McConnell and was the most vocally loyal to Trump of the three candidates, but that did Scott little good: He was knocked out of the first round of voting with only 13 votes. In the subsequent runoff, Thune received 29 votes to Cornyn's 24.

“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 being elected. “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today.”

Thune was first elected to the Senate in 2004 after unseating the Democratic minority leader at the time, former Sen. Tom Daschle. He, Cornyn and just five other GOP incumbents came to the Senate before McConnell took charge of the Republican conference in 2007.

Thune has pledged to carry out a more transparent leadership style compared to his predecessor and open the Senate floor to more debate and amendments. But, like McConnell, Thune has found himself on the receiving end of Trump's anger. In 2020, the then-president ripped into the South Dakota senator for declining to aid him in his attempt to overturn the election results.

"RINO John Thune, 'Mitch’s boy,' should just let it play out," Trump wrote on what was formerly known as Twitter. "South Dakota doesn’t like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!"

But Thune, who did not face a significant primary challenge, has worked hard to mend fences. He paid homage to Trump at Mar-a-Lago this spring and on Monday asserted that he would support Trump's policy agenda just as he did during his first term in the White House.

"If we fail to deliver on President Trump’s priorities, we will lose" the support of the coalition that elected him for a second term,Thune wrote in a Fox News op-ed. “They have trusted us with their votes. Now we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”