Thune is the next Republican leader.

While he will certainly support the general GOP agenda, he isn't a Trump sycophant. Scott - Trump's loyalist - got dumped in the first round of voting, coming in last.

The vote for GOP leadership in the Senate was by secret ballot. That has annoyed MAGA to no end. They want to know who was not loyal to Trump. Apparently loyalty to Trump is the one and only requirement and all non-loyalists must be punished or purged.

Most importantly, I suspect this means that the Senate will not abandon their constitutional duty to provide advice and consent for Presidential appointments. That is the guardrail which is holding for the time being.


Now, if we could only get a secret ballot for party leadership in the House. Then again, the House was always meant to be messier than the Senate.

--Peter