Senate GOP selects Thune, House GOP keeps Johnson
John Thune will replace Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader, and Mike Johnson will remain House speaker in Congress
What happened
Republicans Wednesday elected Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) to be their leader in the upper chamber, making him the next Senate majority leader in January. Thune, 63, will replace Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the longest-serving Senate leader, after beating Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in a secret ballot. House Republicans voted to keep Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as House speaker in the next Congress.
Who said what
Thune pledged to work closely with President-elect Donald Trump to enact his agenda, though "the two men have not always seen eye to eye," said NBC News. Thune was among the few Republicans who "rejected Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him," leading to a rift the incoming Senate leader spent the past few months working to mend. Scott's candidacy had been "championed in recent days by several prominent Trump allies," CNN said, but the secret ballot gave cover to "Republicans wary of offending Trump's most ardent supporters."
Mike Johnson's victory was eased by Trump's endorsement and a deal between the hard-right Freedom Caucus and the "more mainstream conservative Main Street Caucus" that notably raised the bar for toppling a speaker, The Associated Press said. But the "outcome belies a more difficult road ahead for the speaker." Johnson's "true test is a formal vote on the House floor in January, where he'll have almost no room for error" in the closely divided chamber, Politico said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Thune — elevated to majority leader 20 years after he unseated Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) — said his initial priorities will be border security, energy policy and "overturning costly Biden-Harris regulations."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right (luckily)
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What message is Trump sending with his Cabinet picks?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION By nominating high-profile loyalists like Matt Gaetz and RFK Jr., is Trump serious about creating a functioning Cabinet, or does he have a different plan in mind?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The clown car Cabinet
Opinion Even 'Little Marco' towers above his fellow nominees
By Mark Gimein Published