WASHINGTON – Republicans chose their leadership teams for the next Congress on Wednesday, choosing a fresh lineup in the Senate while re-electing many of the same lawmakers in the House.
South Dakota Senator John Thune will become that chamber’s next majority leader. This is the first time since 2007 that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell has not held the GOP top spot after deciding to step down from leadership.
Thune defeated Texas Senator John Cornyn and Florida Senator Rick Scott during the closed-door secret vote.
“We are pleased to take back the majority and work with our colleagues in the House of Representatives to implement President (Donald) Trump’s agenda,” Thune said during a press conference. “We have a mandate from the American people – a mandate not only to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda, but also to implement President Trump’s priorities.”
Thune said border security, deregulation and energy policy will be among the top policy areas Republican senators will pursue once the fresh Congress begins.
He also vowed to be “a leader who serves the entire Republican Conference” and noted that Republicans “have an ambitious agenda that requires every single Republican to work together to implement.”
More fresh GOP leaders
Senate Republicans also chose a slate of fresh leaders in Wednesday’s elections, all of whom will assume their fresh roles in January.
John Barrasso of Wyoming, who ran unopposed, will become deputy majority leader in the next Congress, holding the No. 2 Senate spot previously designated whip.
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton defeated Iowa’s Joni Ernst to win the conference’s third leadership post.
Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia was elected chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford received the support of his colleagues for conference vice chairman, and Tim Scott of South Carolina will be the next chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Trump demands made of the next Republican Senate leader before the election, he wrote on social media that whoever is elected should leave the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process.
Thune said during Wednesday’s news conference that the Senate would work quickly to vet and confirm Trump’s nominee, but did not fully commit to recessing the chamber for the minimum 10-day period required for recess appointments.
“We’re going to make sure we process his nominees to get them into those positions so they can carry out his agenda,” Thune said. “How that happens remains to be seen.”
“Of course, we want to ensure that confirmation hearings are held in our committees, as they normally do, and that these nominees are reported to the full House,” Thune added. “But I said, and I mean it, that we expect a certain level of cooperation from the Democrats; to work with us to install these people. And of course we will explore and review all options to ensure they are implemented, and quickly.”
Build trust
South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said after the election that Thune was positioned to secure the votes needed to win after years of building trust.
“For a lot of people, it was the reassuring feeling of being able to represent what we believe in with John Thune – the fact that they knew they could go to him and talk to him privately, but he wouldn’t do that as ‘I’m going to tell the conference what to do’, but rather as ‘We’re going to move forward as a conference and find consensus along the way because we need everyone’s support.’ ” he said.
Rounds, an early supporter of Thune in the race, said his fellow senator from South Dakota voted for Trump’s policies “more than 90% of the time he was in office.”
Veteran South Dakota legislator
Thune, 63, was elected to the Senate in 2004 after spending six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He currently holds the title of Republican politician, but has also served as Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference, Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, Chairman of the Republican Conference and Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Thune has given dozens of speeches and press conferences during his time in the Senate, but in April 2021 he emphasized his support for bipartisanship and praised Democrats, who were in the majority, for working with the Republican Party on legislation.
“The Senate was designed to promote moderation and consensus. It should be a check on the more partisan — or as the founders put it, partisan — House of Representatives,” Thune said during the convention a speech. “The Senate does its constitutional job best when it engages in serious, bipartisan deliberations and negotiations and ensures that members of both parties are heard.”
He then urged lawmakers from both parties to adopt this framework to negotiate infrastructure legislation in the coming months.
Control of Congress and the White House
Thune will have to move away from those beliefs somewhat over the next two years as Republicans operate what will likely be unified control of the government to push through as much conservative legislation as possible through the elaborate budget reconciliation process.
This legislative route will allow Republicans to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster, which typically forces bipartisanship on major legislation.
Republicans used the process to attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) during the first Trump administration, but were unsuccessful. This allowed the Republicans to pass the 2017 tax law.
Democrats used budget reconciliation to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package and their signature climate, health care and tax package called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the first two years of President Joe Biden’s term ) to approve.
Thune expressed disappointment in his April 2021 speech that Democrats had used the process to avoid negotiations with Republican senators on these two bills.
“Our founders established a democratic republic rather than a pure democracy because they wanted to balance majority rule with the protection of minority rights. They knew that majorities could be tyrants, so they built minority rights protections into our system of government,” Thune said at the time. “The Senate was one of those safeguards. That’s why we should maintain rules like the filibuster, which ensures that the minority party and the many Americans it represents have a voice in legislation.”
Republican leader in the House of Representatives
In the House, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana won his party’s nomination for speaker for the second time, but he needs to secure the votes to hold the gavel in the 119th Congress in a vote in January.
Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise was re-elected as House Republican leader, and Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer secured the votes needed to continue as party leader. Both ran unopposed.
Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain will become chairwoman of the Republican Conference, succeeding New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, whom President-elect Donald Trump has announced he will nominate as ambassador to the United Nations. McClain defeated Florida Rep. Kat Cammack for the role.
Indiana Rep. Erin Houchin will be conference secretary. Utah Rep. Blake Moore will serve as conference co-chair. Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern will be political chairman. And North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson will remain chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for another two years.
Johnson said during a closed-door post-election news conference that the GOP is ready to begin passing legislation as soon as the fresh Congress begins on Jan. 3.
“I know you’re all tired of hearing my football metaphors, but we have a very well-designed playbook. We’re going to start executing these plays with precision from day one.”
Emmer hinted at possible speed bumps during that news conference, pointing to some of the challenges Republicans have faced over the past two years with slim margins in the House.
“As the 118th Congress has shown, things may not always go smoothly and we may have some disagreements along the way, but I have always firmly believed that there is more that unites us than divides us,” Emmer said. “As long as we work together as a team, I have no doubt we will take advantage of the opportunity in front of us.”
Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.
Last updated on November 13, 2024 at 8:12 p.m
