David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Incoming U.S. Senate Republican leader John Thune faces a career test this year as he tries to steer Donald Trump’s agenda in a narrowly divided Congress while protecting his own Senate over cabinet choices. and expenditure authority.
Thune, a 20-year Senate veteran, is expected to be elected Senate majority leader on Friday. He was known as an affable negotiator who was adept at finding common ground between warring factions.
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Thune, 63, of South Dakota, must maintain a positive relationship with a sometimes irascible and unpredictable Trump who has sought to oust him and has shown little interest in the Senate’s role as a check on executive power.
An early test will be overseeing the confirmation of a slew of unconventional Cabinet nominees while delivering on Trump’s agenda of tax cuts, border security and energy deregulation and averting a debt that could exceed $36 trillion at some point this year. Breach of contract.
“He enters the majority leader position during one of the most controversial and influential years in the Senate in a generation,” said Brian Riedl, a former Senate aide and now a senior fellow at the right-leaning Manhattan Institute. “This is It will truly be a trial by fire.”
Confirmation hearings for the controversial Trump Cabinet picks are about to begin, including Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, Health and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of human services and Kash Patel as director of the FBI.
Members of the Thun conference have expressed quiet concern about the four men, whose resumes differ from those of previous candidates for this important position. Since Trump’s election, former congressman Matt Gaetz dropped out of the race for attorney general.
“Republicans, be smart, be tough!!!” Trump said on social media on Tuesday, warning that Senate Democrats would try to delay the confirmation process.
Thune met with the four more controversial candidates but avoided commenting on their qualifications, saying simply that each candidate would have to answer questions at a public hearing before facing a Senate confirmation vote. Some Trump supporters said the stance was not firm enough for their taste.
“The Senate Majority Leader’s job is to ensure that qualified Cabinet nominees from his president’s party are confirmed,” said Mike Davis, a former Senate Republican aide and founder and chairman of the Article III Project.
Davis said his Trump-aligned advocacy group has directed tens of thousands of people to call and email wavering Senate Republicans and “fire up their passions” on social media.
“If those qualified nominees fail, it’s John Thune’s failure,” Davis said.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Thune expressed a willingness to give Trump’s picks “broad latitude and broad respect,” adding: “We have work to do, advise and agree, and we will do that and make sure there is A fair process”.
Thune survived a pressure campaign by members of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, who had wanted Sen. Rick Scott to serve as House leader.
Senate Powers and Traditions
Thune, whose current six-year term runs through 2028, has strong support in South Dakota, preventing him from fielding a primary challenger in 2022 after criticizing Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. he.
He said he planned to protect the Senate’s powers and traditions, which include the power to confirm or deny the president’s cabinet picks and its “filibuster” rule, which requires 60 of the 100 senators to agree on most legislation — — which means he may sometimes need Democratic support.
“The Senate is designed to slow things down, be more thoughtful and give the minority a voice,” Thune told reporters last month. “Obviously, as we’ve said before, the filibuster is non-negotiable. “
Trump told Time magazine that he “respects” the filibuster and has a “very good relationship” with Thune.
Thune’s allies say the former high school basketball star is capable of prevailing over lawmakers unwilling to toe party lines on key votes.
Trump and his supporters likely expect the same — and appear ready to push back if some Senate Republicans try to push back against his priorities. Trump has said he will turn to recess appointments to appoint the nominee if the Senate does not support his choice.
Philip Wallach, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said Thune may face pressure from hardline conservatives who are uninterested in the Senate’s traditions: “There are a lot of people coming into the new administration who just think Congress It’s a painful place.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)
