WASHINGTON (CN) — South Dakota Senator John Thune will succeed Senator Mitch McConnell as Senate Republicans’ top lawmaker, the caucus decided Wednesday in a vote that set the tone for the upper chamber’s approach to a second Donald Trump administration.
In a closed-door session on Capitol Hill, Republican senators narrowly voted to elevate Thune, currently the Senate minority whip, as the conference’s leader. He faced challenges from Texas Senator John Cornyn and Florida Senator Rick Scott, both of whom failed to capture sufficient party support.
Thune’s election is a win for establishment Republicans and a setback for allies of President-elect Trump, who rallied behind Scott as a figure best positioned to oversee the new administration’s agenda in the upper chamber.
Republican senators, though, quickly repudiated their Florida colleague — he was reportedly knocked out in the first round of voting Wednesday.
Thune will be the first new Republican leader in nearly two decades. McConnell, who announced earlier this year that he would step aside from his role following the presidential election, has been at the GOP’s helm since 2006.
This is a developing story and will be updated …