Senate Republicans reject MAGA for Mitch McConnell Ally in shock vote

“I am deeply honored to have won the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am extremely proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House,” Thune said said in a statement after the vote. “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda and our work begins today.”

Thune was also popular with Senate Republicans, and his colleagues described him as affable, popular and humble The hill.

But regardless of the clear logic of Thune's victory, his rise to the top of Senate GOP leadership represents an interesting start to Donald Trump's second term and marks the possibility that the upper chamber will remain an independent entity, subject to the whims of the Senate elected president is separated. Thune is an establishment conservative and longtime McConnell ally who hasn't always seen Eye To Eye with Trump. Thune won in two rounds despite an aggressive lobbying campaign by some of Trump's key allies, including Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy and Charlie Kirk, who won over Florida Sen. Rick Scott claimed would be a better alternative for the MAGA administration.