#senator thune

[deadpresidents]

Trump is saying he wants to skirt the senate confirmation process for recess appointments and he won't support a Senate majority leader that doesn't agree. Do you think the senate will actually give up their power so willingly?

I think there are still enough legislators (at least in the Senate) who believe in separation of powers and aren't willing to give away their branch's role as something close to an equal partner in governing that they will not give that away so easily. I think that's why the Senate Republicans probably ended up choosing John Thune as Majority Leader today. However, they are so beholden to the cult of personality that the MAGA movement has built around Trump that the only reason Thune ended up winning is because the Senate leader was chosen in a secret ballot. If those votes were public, I guarantee Rick Scott would have been elected Majority Leader today.

[oddmanoutninja]

Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Signed: Key Insights

The U.S. Senate passed the Big Beautiful Bill 51-50 with VP JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote on two different occasions. After a marathon of amendments were added—some denied—and others altered; the needs of Senate Republicans were satisfied. Majority Leader Sen. John Thune kept his word. The time had come for the House Republicans to once again honor theirs. The Democrats in the Senate…

[news26]

Thune wins secret ballot to become new Senate GOP leader, succeeding McConnell

Read more

click here

[undergroundusa]

"How is it that any US Senator on the Republican conservative side of the aisle is allowing this communist Chinese-friendly Uniparty reprobate to have any voice in what happens in the next Congress?…"

ORIGINAL CONTENT: https://www.undergroundusa.com/p/time-to-ditch-mitch-and-his-deep

READ, SUBSCRIBE, SHARE PROTECT FREE SPEECH

[saywhat-politics]

FOX: The Committee for a Responsible Budget came out today and said it will add $15 trillion to the debt

THUNE: This will reduce the deficit, not increase it

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

Those up for re-election next year are worried the Medicaid cuts will cost them their seats. Some hardliners are against raising the debt ceiling limit by $5 trillion dollars. Still others want changes to the AI provisions.

Then again they may just be showboating or holding out for a bribe of some sort.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Emily Singer at Daily Kos:

Republicans know that the demands President Donald Trump is making of them are bad. But true to their cowardly form, the vast majority of GOP lawmakers refuse to follow their conscience and vote against his destructive policies, fearing that Trump will sic his MAGA loyalists against them and tank their careers. This week, a number of GOP senators voted for a bill that claws back billions of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as well as foreign aid that Congress had already appropriated—even though the GOP lawmakers admitted they had reservations about the legislation. Multiple Senate Republicans said the Trump administration did not provide them with enough information on what exactly they will cut from foreign aid funding, which gave them pause, yet not enough pause to vote against the bill.

[...] Over on the House side, a bunch of GOP lawmakers who purported to care about child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and releasing the information the government had about his crimes voted this week to block the files from being released. Republicans blocked the release as Trump rails against anyone who is criticizing his administration for not releasing the supposed files, going as far as saying that he doesn’t count anyone who is still talking about Epstein as one of his followers. 

Republicans continue to vote for bills they say are bad, all because they are afraid of incurring the wrath of Donald Trump and right-wing media influencers.

[destiel-news-network]

(Source)

Thune was selected over Cornyn and Scott (with Scott being seen as the closest Senator to Trump). He takes over from Mitch McConnell, who was Senate Republican Leader for eighteen years.

[girlactionfigure]

Senator John Thune:

To our allies in Israel, and to the Jewish people around the world, my message to you is this: Reinforcements are on the way.

In six weeks, Republicans will reclaim the Senate majority, and we will make clear that the United States Congress stands squarely in Israel’s corner.

[mara-and-politics]

Time to call literally EVERYONE. Anyone in Congressional leadership should be called. Even if they don't represent you directly. Just make sure that you state that you are calling them because of their leadership position. For example: "Senator John Thune, I am calling because you are the Senate Majority leader and I am sure that you value and love the Constitution as much as I do. The president's posts on Truth Social and on the official White House social media pages declaring himself King are a direct threat to the Constitution. Please use the power placed in your hands as a co-equal branch of government and remove him from office. If necessary, please reach out to Vice President Vance and ask for the 25th Amendment to be implemented. Thank you so much for your time. I know you will stand up for the Founding Principles of America." I am not his constituent, but I was able to reach his DC office and they took my comment and said they would pass it on. I profusely thanked her and apologized for bothering her for matters outside of South Dakota, but reiterated that I was calling because he's the Senate Majority Leader and has more legislative obligations to the country than just to his state. Senator John Thune Senate Majority Leader DC Office: 202-224-2321 Aberdeen: 605-225-8823 Sioux Falls: 605-334-9596 Rapid City: 605-348-7551 Speaker Mike Johnson Speaker of the House DC Office: 202-225-2777 Bossier City: 318-840-0309 DeRidder: 337-226-6385 Northwestern State University: 337-423-423

Rep Hakeem Jeffries House Minority Leader DC Office: 202-225-5936 Central Brooklyn: 718-237-2211 South Brooklyn: 718-373-0033

Senator Chuck Schumer Senate Minority Leader DC Office: 202-224-6542

You can also use FaxZero.com to send free faxes to the Representatives and Senators who have fax numbers. I saved the image above as a PDF and included it as an attachment with the cover letter asking for Congress to remove Trump as a direct threat to the Constitution.

[youthchronical]

Schumer Will Clear the Way for G.O.P. Spending Bill, Breaking With His Party

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, broke with his party on Thursday and lined up enough Democrats to advance a Republican-written bill to keep federal funding flowing past a midnight Friday deadline, arguing that Democrats could not allow a government shutdown that many of them have demanded. During a private luncheon with Democrats, Mr. Schumer stunned many of his colleagues…

[cazort]

Hey guys, so Senate Republicans didn't pick Trump's favorite, the ultra-far-right, Rick Scott, and instead picked John Thune, to be Senate Majority Leader.

This is significant for multiple reasons. One, he differs from Trump's views on a number of issues. He is pro-Ukraine, he has worked to block Trump's attempted cuts to the 340B program (which cuts prescription drug costs for low-income people), he's sponsored legislation to encourage employers to pay off their employees' student loans, and he defended NAFTA when Trump tried to get out of it. He also in 2020 opposed Trump's continued efforts to overturn the election results.

The Republican party has been overrun by extremism for a long time and I want to make clear, Thune still takes a long list of stances I disagree with. But he is more moderate than Cornyn and much more moderate than Rick Scott, the two other contenders. I haven't seen a lot of examples over the past 10 years of where the Republicans moderated themselves, but this is one of them.

Senate Republicans picked the most-moderate and most anti-Trump of the three contenders and this is very significant and is a hopeful sign. In particular it shows that Trump may have less influence over the internals of the Republican party than some people think he might have. It also points to the Republicans probably not blindly rubber-stamping everything he wants, but instead, seeing him as someone who needs to be kept in check.

What does this mean for you? Especially if you live in a red state, write your senators about issues that concern you. They might listen. When Trump was trying to cut 340B, there was pushback and that's why Republicans didn't cut it. When Trump contested the 2020 election results, there was pushback and some Republicans did speak out. There is already pushback on many of Trump's economic plans.

Make some noise, be heard. Even in red states.

What are some things to make noise about?

Tariffs - They will be terrible for the economy. They are hard to remove if enacted. We don't want them. Voice your opposition to them.

Abortion rights - Tell the government to stay out of private medical decisions.

Trans rights and gender issues. You can frame these issues as small government too. Tell them you don't want government to have anything to do with gender and you want to leave medical care as a private thing between doctors and patients.

Public lands - Tell them you oppose selling off public lands or selling oil leases on them and such

Any programs the Trump administration tries to cut that are important. Public transit, climate change related grants, healthcare, you name it. Pay attention to the news and if something you feel passionate about comes up, write in.

Foreign policy - whether supporting Ukraine, or opposing US continuing to give money and arms to Israel, make your voices heard. You can frame your opposition to Israeli aid as an "America first" policy...ask them why we are giving so many billions to Israel when we have so many needs here, when that money could be either spent domestically, used to pay down our debt, or used to lower taxes? Speak the Republicans' language.

Specific Appointments - Call out specific appointees you dislike. Don't fuss about everyone, pick the worst ones and focus on them. For example right now I think the worst one has been Pete Hegseth. He has no relevant experience and is entirely unqualified, and on top of that has pushed for awful things like ignoring when US soldiers are accused of war crimes. Voice your concerns and say you want him voted down and you want to demand a more qualified candidate.

Yeah. No need to sit around feeling hopeless. There is wiggle room even in a Republican-dominated government. The Republicans have already moved towards the center with this gesture and this shows they will potentially cave to pressure if they get enough of it.

Pick and choose the most important battles and fight them.

[undergroundusa]

Sorry, but after Thune's unforgivable kneejerk judgment of Trump on Jan. 6, he will have to earn my trust that he is a full-fledged member of the anti-Deep State reformation movement. He was just too close to Mitch McConnell for any true conservative's liking.

https://substack.com/profile/129788551-frank-salvato/note/c-77027459

[saywhat-politics]

A decision by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to schedule pro forma sessions throughout the August recess which will, in effect, stop Donald Trump from making any recess appointments, has set off a firestorm among the president's MAGA followers.

According to CSPAN's Craig Caplan, "Senate just agreed by unanimous consent at the request of Majority Leader Thune to hold pro forma sessions every 3 days following today’s session and not return for votes until Tuesday, Sept. 2nd. This agreement will block President Trump from making recess appointments."

[tomorrowusa]

Senate Republicans choose the least bad candidate to succeed Mitch McConnell

The MAGA/Musk favorite, Rick Scott of Florida, was eliminated early.

John Thune elected to Senate leadership in rebuke to Trump allies Elon Musk was among those pushing for Florida senator Rick Scott to get top job

South Dakota senator John Thune will be the next Republican leader in the Senate and the most powerful Republican on Capitol Hill, after garnering the support of a majority of the party’s lawmakers in the upper chamber of Congress. Thune was selected to replace Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell as the Senate’s top Republican in a secret ballot on Wednesday morning. The result is a rebuke to allies of president-elect Donald Trump, including billionaire Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk and former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, who had all pushed for Florida senator Rick Scott to get the top job. Scott was eliminated in the first round of voting, and Thune defeated Texas senator John Cornyn in the second round to secure the backing of the majority of his colleagues.

This is an early indication that Trump won't get all he wants in the Senate.

Take a look at the political calendar. If you count the impending vacancies for Vance and Rubio, 22 GOP Senate seats will be up for election in 2026; for Democrats, the number is just 13. Also, Donald Trump is a lame duck. His influence on 2026 midterms will be similar to George W. Bush's influence in 2006 when Dems flipped the Senate.

So with the Thune election, Republicans may already be contemplating the post-MAGA era.