Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the newly appointed Senate majority leader, sought to quell any doubts among the GOP that he can’t work with President-elect Trump in the hours before his colleagues narrowly voted for him to lead them, insisting there was “no daylight” between him and the president-elect.
Thune’s biggest obstacle to succeeding Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as Senate GOP leader had been concerns among a number of Republican senators about whether he could work closely with Trump.
Ahead of Wednesday’s 29-24 final vote, Thune tried to put those doubts to rest by highlighting his role in crafting Trump’s signature tax bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in 2017, and his efforts to pass Trump’s agenda through the Senate as GOP whip in 2019 and 2020.
“Sen. Thune emphasized repeatedly — repeatedly — that he was for President Trump, that he understood that we had won a majority now and had to deliver on it, that there’s no daylight between him and Trump and that he will make the Senate work,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
“I hope that’s accurate,” he said.
The win sets up what will be a fascinating relationship between Trump and Thune.
Only hours after Thune locked down his votes, he immediately found himself in a tough spot after Trump nominated conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-Hawaii) to serve as attorney general and director of national intelligence, respectively.
The announcements sparked an immediate storm of controversy on Capitol Hill, with some Republican senators expressing surprise or outright opposition to the announcement.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, predicted Gaetz could face a tough path to confirmation, even though Senate Republicans will control 52 or 53 seats next year.
“At the end of the day, Congressman Gaetz, he’ll have a hearing but I’m all about counting votes and I would think that he’s probably got some work cut out for him to get a good strong vote,” he warned.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) bluntly told reporters that she didn’t view Gaetz as a serious nominee.
“We need to have a serious attorney general,” she said.
Thune vowed at a press conference earlier in the day that he would push hard to get Trump’s nominees confirmed quickly.
“We will do everything we can to process his noms quickly, get them installed in their positions so they can begin implementing his agenda,” he said.
Thune on Sunday endorsed Trump’s call for the power to make recess appointments, which would allow him to fill key executive and judiciary branch positions without having to steer nominees through the Senate confirmation process.
Asked Wednesday whether he would “move forward” with restoring Trump’s ability to make recess appointments, Thune said, “[what] we’re going to do is make sure that we are processing his nominees in a way that gets them into those positions so they can implement his agenda.”
“How that happens remains to be seen,” he said.
He made those statements before Trump made his bombshell announcements about Gaetz and Gabbard.
Gaetz is a controversial pick because he was investigated by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
Gabbard is a polarizing nominee because she expressed skepticism about U.S. government claims that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people and once defended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reasons for invading Ukraine.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who has jurisdiction over both nominees as a senior member of the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees, appeared dumbfounded by Trump’s choices to head the Justice Department and a key national security agency.
Cornyn scrunched up his face and turned slightly pink when he was asked by reporters about Gaetz heading the Justice Department but managed to maintain message discipline.
“We’ll do our job and vet the nominee,” he said tersely.
He also appeared surprised by Trump’s choice of Gabbard to serve as the nation’s top intelligence officer.
“Has that happened?” he asked reporters when informed of the development, raising his eyebrows.
Trump’s allies in the Senate said Wednesday they expect Thune to stick to the promises he made during the Senate GOP leadership race to stick closely to Trump and carry out his political and policy agenda.
One Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss Thune’s relationship with Trump said “there’s a fair amount of skepticism” about whether the new Senate majority leader can be counted on to back the president-elect without waffling.
“He’s on a relatively short leash,” the lawmaker said, noting that only three votes made the difference in the leadership race, which Thune won in a 29-24 vote on the second ballot.
After the 2020 election, Trump was furious with Thune when he vowed to oppose efforts by Trump-allied senators to block the certification of Biden electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
He blasted Thune as a “RINO” and “Mitch’s boy,” referring to his close relationship with McConnell.
Trump called for Thune to face a primary challenge in 2022, but the threat didn’t amount to much, and the South Dakota senator easily won reelection.
Thune made an effort to mend fences with Trump by visiting him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in March.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who has a good relationship with Trump, has acted as a liaison between the two men and helped persuade Trump not to intervene in the leadership race to derail Thune’s chances of becoming majority leader, according to a source familiar with the behind-the-scenes maneuvers.
Trump had predicted to several Republican senators in recent days that Thune was likely to be elected majority leader, and the president-elect reportedly didn’t have an interest in getting involved in the race.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who publicly endorsed Thune early in the leadership race, said the new Senate GOP majority will “work very closely with the president.”
“President Trump won a resounding election Nov. 5 and the American people want a different direction,” he said. “The Senate and the House has got to work closely with the president. The American people gave us that mandate.”
He acknowledged “there were some questions about that relationship” between Trump and Thune but argued that the two men have made a lot of progress resolving their past differences.
“John Thune has worked really hard at building that relationship,” he said.
At the same time, Gaetz would have to answer tough questions at his confirmation hearing to get through the Senate.
“There’s a lot of questions that are going to be out there. He’s got to answer those questions,” Mullin said.
A second Republican who requested anonymity predicted the GOP conference would rally behind Thune, even though it was almost evenly divided in the final leadership vote.
“The conference will move on and John [Thune] will be a good unifier,” the senator said.
