Thune, Barrasso, Cotton to make up Senate Republican leadership team

Senate Republicans have a new leader for the first time in 18 years. Sen. John Thune will replace Mitch McConnell, Ky. — Image credit: Getty Images

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Senate Republicans have a new leader for the first time in 18 years. Sen. John Thune, S.D., will replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, Ky., who is the longest serving Senate GOP leader in history.

“This Republican team is united. We are on one team,” Thune told reporters. “We are excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President Trump’s agenda.”

Honored to serve as the next U.S. Senate majority leader. pic.twitter.com/zq9XLrPDUr
— Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) November 13, 2024

Sen. Thune was elected in a three-way race that included Sens. John Cornyn, Texas, and Rick Scott, Fla. Thune and Cornyn made a similar pitch, more aligned with McConnell. Scott, however, was the Trump candidate and wanted to shake up the structure of Senate leadership.

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“I promise to be a leader who serves the entire Republican conference,” Thune said. “We’ll have an ambitious agenda, and we’ll take each and every Republican working together to be successful.”

One of the key issues in the race was the legislative amendment process. Many Republicans want to allow any senator to propose changes or additions to legislation. This will increase debate and give individual lawmakers more power to influence a bill.

They also wanted to get back to what’s supposed to be the normal appropriations process. Congressional protocol calls for 12 bills, specific to certain sections of the federal government, to be debated and written separately by the committee that has an expertise in that area.

As it currently stands, Congress has been passing continuing resolutions, omni- and minibus bills, which are massive in scope, difficult to read in full and don’t give senators an opportunity to debate and amend.

To round out Republican leadership, Wyoming’s Sen. John Barrasso was elected whip. He’ll be the No. 2 in charge of counting votes and trying to convince holdouts to support the party’s legislative priorities. Arkansas’ Sen. Tom Cotton will serve as conference chair.

Tags: John Cornyn, John Thune, Mitch McConnell, Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate

[Ray Bogan]

Dakota will replace Leader Mitch McConnell, who is the longest serving Senate GOP Leader in history.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.,: “This Republican team is united. We are on one team. We are excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President Trump’s agenda.”

Senator Thune was elected in a three way race that included Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. Thune and Cornyn made a similar pitch, more aligned with McConnell. Scott however was the Trump candidate and wanted to shake up the structure of Senate leadership.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.: “I promise to be a leader who serves the entire Republican Conference. We’ll have an ambitious agenda, and we’ll take each and every Republican working together to be successful.”

[Ray Bogan]

One of the key issues in the race was the legislative amendment process. Many Republicans want an open process that allows anyone to propose changes or additions to legislation. This will increase debate and give individual senators more power to influence a bill.

As it currently stands, Congress has been passing continuing resolutions, omni and mini bus bills, which are massive in scope, difficult to read in full and don’t give Senators an opportunity to debate and amend.
To round out Republican leadership – Wyoming’s John Barrasso was elected Whip. He’ll be the number two and in charge of counting votes and trying to convince holdouts to support the party’s legislative priorities. Arkansas’ Tom Cotton will serve as conference chair,