John Thune

Some senators have questioned his fitness for the role amid allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct.

Donald Trump is huddling with allies and a Republican cause célèbre at the Army-Navy football game.

'Border security must move first'

This is the latest health incident for the 82-year-old McConnell, who has been in the Senate since 1985 and has led the Senate GOP since 2007.

McConnell delivered remarks at the lunch event before he fell

The veteran Kentucky senator stepped down from his perch as the top Republican senator after he froze up in front of cameras last year.

McConnell's aligned fundraising group is being outfitted with Thune allies as the Senate Republican leader prepares to hand over power.

Republicans say they hope to pass sweeping legislation on border security, energy policy, and tax reform as soon as possible.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon on Tuesday, the latest in a series of medical incidents for him in recent years

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said McConnell was “fine” after the fall.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell fell and scratched his face after a party lunch on Tuesday but is “fine” after returning to his office. That's according to a senator who was with him when it happened. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso,...

Nearly 100 former national security officials signed a letter to Senate leaders raising concerns about President-elect Trump's nomination of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence.Why it matters: Gabbard is yet another controversial Trump Cabinet pick who faces a rocky path to secure Senate confirmation.Her most infamous controversy is a 2017 trip to Syria, when she met Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. She subsequently declared that Assad — the Russia-and Iran-backed leader accused of using chemical weapons against his own civilians — was "not the enemy."Driving the news: In a letter addressed to incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the officials said they were "alarmed" by Trump's nomination of Gabbard.The former officials urged Thune and Schumer to hold closed-door hearings to review "all information available to the U.S. government" regarding Gabbard."Several of Ms. Gabbard's past actions call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus," the letter stated.The letter highlighted both Gabbard's trip to Syria as well as her statements about debunked claims about Ukraine."Her sympathy for dictators like Vladimir Putin and Assad raises questions about her judgement and fitness," the letter added.The big picture: As director of national intelligence, Gabbard would be tasked with overseeing 18 agencies, including the CIA and FBI.The former officials added that if confirmed, Gabbard would be the "least experienced" person to hold the position since the role was created, noting her lack of executive branch and managerial experience.Go deeper: What to know about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for national intelligence director

Sen. John Fetterman said he admires Elon Musk, and is not his enemy. Musk said it is "Hard not to like" the senator.

Republican lawmakers on Thursday signaled a willingness to target Social Security and other mandatory programs after meeting with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the billionaire pair President-elect Donald Trump chose to lead a new commission tasked with slashing federal spending and regulations.Though the GOP's 2024 platform pledged to shield Social Security, the party has reverted to its long-held position in the weeks since Trump's election victory, with some lawmakers openly attacking the program while others suggest cuts more subtly by stressing the supposed need for "hard decisions" to shore up its finances. (Progressives argue Social Security's solvency can be guaranteed for decades to come by requiring the rich to contribute more to the program, a proposal Republicans oppose.)On Thursday, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) emerged from a meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy with the message that "nothing is sacrosanct.""They're going to put everything on the table," said Norman, one of the wealthiest members of Congress.After airing Norman's remarks, Fox Business reported that Musk and Ramaswamy told lawmakers that no federal program is safe from cuts, "and that includes Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid."NBC News congressional correspondent Julie Tsirkin said Thursday that after meeting with Musk, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)—who was recently elected Senate majority leader for the upcoming Congress—told her that "perhaps mandatory programs are areas that they're looking to make cuts in, like Social Security, for example.""But again, no specifics were laid out there," Tsirkin added.Thune has previously voiced support for raising Social Security's retirement age, a change that would cut benefits across the board.In the days leading up to their Capitol Hill visit, both Musk and Ramaswamy took swipes at Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and made clear the programs would be in the crosshairs of their advisory commission, which is examining ways to slash federal spending without congressional approval.Earlier this week, Musk amplified a series of social media posts by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who once said he hopes to "get rid of" Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Defenders of Social Security saw Lee's thread, and Musk's apparent endorsement of it, as a declaration of war on the New Deal program.Days later, Ramaswamy said in an interview with CNBC that "there are hundreds of billions of dollars of savings to extract" from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, claiming the programs are rife with waste, fraud, and abuse."People love to have lazy armchair discussions about, oh, are you going to make cuts to entitlements or not, when, in fact, the dirty little secret is that many of those entitlement dollars aren't even going to people who they were supposed to be going to in the first place," said Ramaswamy, advancing a narrative that observers warned could be used to justify additional bureaucratic barriers making it harder for eligible people to receive benefits.Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said Thursday that the Trump-GOP agenda is "so predictable.""Tax cuts for billionaire donors; benefit cuts for people on Social Security—how the billionaires loot our country (what, not rich enough already, fellas?)," Whitehouse wrote on social media.In a column on Thursday, MSNBC's Ryan Teague Beckwith wrote that "Republicans somehow keep coming back to the idea of cutting Social Security" despite widespread opposition to such cuts among the American public."Would Trump try to cut Social Security? It's hard to say. Over the years, he has staked out every possible position on Social Security—sometimes within hours of each other," wrote Beckwith, noting that Trump previously called the program a "huge Ponzi scheme" and backed calls to raise the retirement age."So if Republicans—or Musk—decide to propose changes to Social Security benefits," Beckwith added, "it's possible that he might go along with it."

Four years of Biden-Harris open borders and it's time for Trump to fix the crisis of illegal immigration. One way to do it is to tax the money they send back to their home countries.

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday continued rolling out picks to serve on his Cabinet and other top roles, including border security and mass deportation operation nominees.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk and conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy on Thursday began in-person discussions with congressional Republicans about ways they could slash federal spending and regulations once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.Trump has tasked Musk and Ramaswamy with issuing recommendations to overhaul the federal budget and bureaucracy — a goal that many Republicans say they agree with, but also one that presidents and Congresses under both parties, as well as divided governments, have repeatedly failed to deliver on.Musk and Ramaswamy traveled to Capitol Hill for a series of meetings with House and Senate members. It was their first such trip since their appointment by Trump as outside advisers, heading up a commission called the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE is also the name of an internet meme and a cryptocurrency.“This is a brainstorming session,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters between meetings. He said the talks are “laying the groundwork” for what lawmakers will do next year.They have their work cut out for them.Trump oversaw an increase in deficits during his first term, even before the Covid-19 pandemic. In his 2024 campaign, he promised to preserve two of the most expensive parts of the budget — Social Security and Medicare — beyond “cutting waste and fraud.” He also called for trillions of dollars in additional tax breaks on tips and overtime, in addition to extending his 2017 tax cuts, which would all add to the debt. And most congressional Republicans are determined to continue increasing military spending, another large slice of the pie.Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest people, has potential leverage over congressional Republicans because of his willingness to spend some of his vast fortune on politics, and his recent proximity to Trump. As recently as Sunday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has repeatedly warned Republicans to get in line behind Trump’s priorities or else face a primary challenge in 2026.Great @DOGE meeting with @elonmusk, @VivekGRamaswamy, @SpeakerJohnson, and X-Æ-12 pic.twitter.com/WRXQoz7MGY— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) December 5, 2024 Officially, though, the roles for Musk and Ramaswamy are only advisory. They won’t be in the government and instead will be sending recommendations to the Trump White House, with a deadline of July 4, 2026.Musk’s newfound political influence follows his campaigning for Trump over the summer and fall. His super PAC, America PAC, spent more than $152 million to boost Trump and other Republicans, with much of the money coming from Musk and his friends, according to disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Musk also held events for Trump in swing state Pennsylvania and turned X, which he owns, into a megaphone for pro-Trump views.Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive, ran in the Republican primary for president and lost to Trump before later endorsing him.Musk has repeatedly faced questions about potential conflicts of interest in advising on the federal budget. SpaceX is a major federal contractor, including with the Defense Department and NASA. And, according to Ramaswamy, one of their potential targets is a $6.6 billion loan to electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive, a competitor to Tesla. Musk has not said how or if he plans to resolve those conflicts.One lawmaker, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Thursday it was too early to anticipate the priorities for cuts but that loosening regulation by administrative action and through Congress would be a good place to start.“There are tens of billions of dollars in regulatory relief that are on the table now,” Tillis said.The U.S. budget was $6.1 trillion in fiscal year 2023, according to the Peterson Foundation.Still, Tillis called the Thursday conversation an “organizational meeting” — akin to “an engagement meeting I’d have with a client.”Speaking to reporters in between meetings, Musk reiterated his support for ending tax credits to encourage electric vehicle sales, aligning with Republicans who are eying cuts to clean energy funding.“I think we should get rid of all credits,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about tax credits for electric vehicles. (Musk has previously said that EV credits help Tesla’s competitors.)Musk said little else as he walked through the Capitol’s corridors with one of his children. The billionaire was followed so closely by Capitol Hill reporters, he said, “It’s like there’s ambient press.”Once DOGE is established, Musk and Ramaswamy will have a small office of 10 to 12 staffers under the executive office of the president who will work closely with the Office of Management and Budget, a source involved in the effort told NBC News.They will also have individuals within each federal department and agency who operate as DOGE liaisons, the source said. Musk and Ramaswamy are seeking individuals with business backgrounds with an interest in “gutting bureaucracy” to fill those roles. “A lot of these folks will be lawyers or have previous experience at that agency,” the source said.Musk has shown a willingness to consider cuts to some of the federal government’s most popular programs including Social Security. On Monday, he shared a post on X from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, advocating an overhaul of Social Security into something like individual retirement accounts. “Interesting thread,” Musk wrote.Thursday morning, Musk met with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., while Ramaswamy met separately behind closed doors with a group of 15 Senate Republicans for a little over an hour. In the afternoon, they met with a larger group of House and Senate members.Leaving the meeting with Ramaswamy, senators told NBC News that it was a positive conversation and consisted of an “exchanging of ideas,” as Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., put it. But they would not divulge specific policies discussed inside.A source familiar with the private meeting in the afternoon told NBC News that the gathering turned into an “open mic session” featuring “an airing of grievances from House members who want Elon and Vivek to solve all their problems.”Some Democrats have expressed interest in working with Musk and Ramaswamy to reduce spending and regulations. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., posted on X on Thursday that Congress should model its efforts on a World War II-era committee led by then-Sen. Harry Truman.“Let’s look to the Truman Committee and ensure Americans get their money’s worth with DOD spending,” he wrote.While GOP efforts to reduce the size of the federal government and end wasteful spending are not new, senators did not offer much in terms of how this effort would be different or possibly more successful.“You’re way too ahead,” Tillis said when asked about budget deficits.Leaving the meeting, Ramaswamy also declined to answer reporters’ questions.In the 2024 election, Republicans won a 53-vote Senate majority and a paper-thin House majority of 220-215. Those slim margins could give Democrats some influence over the outcome, and some of them mock the new Musk-led effort as a punchline.“DOGE is not real. Just because someone says there is now a department of so and so does not mean the actual department now exists,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., the ranking member of the Budget Committee.“Republicans are total hypocrites when it comes to deficit and debt. ... Trump added more to the national debt than any president in American history,” Boyle continued. “So I have seen this movie before. I have absolutely no doubt that if Trump is able to ram through a second round of his tax cuts, then it will explode the national debt.”Veterans of past failed debt-reform efforts, including the Obama-era bipartisan “super committee” of 2011, doubt the DOGE will be more successful unless it’s willing to take on sacred cows.“If past is prologue, the DOGE faces an uphill climb. It’s not yet clear what authority or reach the DOGE has, but managing the federal budget cannot be done through talking points,” said Zach Mallove, a lobbyist who worked as a policy aide to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., when she co-chaired the super committee.Mallove said lawmakers will have to accept some “political pain” for it to be meaningful. “In the end, the math just doesn’t add up: with a $1.7 trillion annual discretionary budget, you cannot cut $2 trillion without tapping into the country’s social safety net.”This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:Family of Missouri teen who fell to his death on Orlando free-fall ride gets $310 million verdictEx-Proud Boys Leader dodges questions at trial of officer charged with feeding him intelHouse votes against releasing Matt Gaetz ethics report for now

Pete Hegseth spent a second straight day courting support from GOP senators on Capitol Hill amid accusations ranging from fiscal mismanagement to alcoholism and sexual misconduct.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, here at the Capitol in September, is set to succeed Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow as the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

The incoming Senate majority leader, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), said, 'None of this is going to be easy.'

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer offered up some advice to his upcoming successor, Republican Sen. John Thune, to preserve the "vital role" of the Senate in confirming the nominees of President-elect Donald Trump.

As President-elect Donald Trump moves to set up a more forceful presidency than in his first term, he is choosing loyalists for his Cabinet and considering a tool known as recess appointments to skip over Senate confirmations for even some of the most powerful positions in U.S. government.Trump over the weekend demanded that Republican leaders in the Senate, who will hold a majority in the chamber next year, agree to allow recess appointments. It would be a significant shift in power away from the Senate, but Trump is returning to Washington with almost total support from his party, including the more traditional Republicans who still hold sway in the chamber.Their commitment, however, is being tested now that Trump has turned to picked people outside the Republican Party mainstream like former Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii for top positions.It quickly became apparent Wednesday that figures like Gaetz, who Trump announced as his choice for attorney general, may struggle to gain majority support from the Senate, even though Republicans will enjoy a 53-seat majority. But that may not matter if Trump is able to use recess appointments.

With the election at an end, states prepare for electors to cast their official votes.

"The Senate must take its advice and consent role seriously if the balance of power is to be preserved."

Republican senators have some concerns about Trump's choice of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

President-elect Trump is demanding that Senate Republicans show up and try to stop Democrats from confirming more judges. Why it matters: President Biden is now 15 judicial confirmations away from the record set by Trump in his first term. Trump posted Wednesday on "X": "The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!"Democrats confirmed two more judges on Wednesday by 50-48 margins, with Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mike Braun (Indiana) missing the votes.If they'd voted, Vice President Harris would have been unavailable to break the 50-50 tie as she's currently vacationing in Hawaii."I am very angry – 90% of success in life is showing up," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters."I've got a 4th Circuit nominee that if my colleagues show up on my side I've secured Democratic votes to defeat. That is very personal to me," he said."I had a member ask me, 'Well, when is the vote?' I said, 'When you're not here,'" Tillis told reporters.Zoom in: Senate Republicans, including incoming Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) are in a showdown over judges with outgoing Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).Thune unveiled a plan Monday to aggressively defend against Biden's final nominees, Axios has reported.Schumer is prepared to grind through that defense with late night and weekend votes.

A northwest Ohio House race that many believed could determine who ultimately controls the House of Representatives was called by the Associated Press three weeks after Election Day.

Trump and others in his orbit have threatened to go around the Senate to staff his administration, but the logistics are a problem.

How many? And how fast? That’s the question for the Senate in January as it will sprint to confirm as many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees as possible.

"The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts," Trump fumes as JD Vance and other Republicans skip votes

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) called Wednesday for President-elect Trump's health administration appointees to face "extensive committee investigations" as part of the Senate's confirmation process.Why it matters: Collins' comments echo concerns from some on Capitol Hill that Trump may forgo the traditional confirmation process in favor of recess appointments, and skip several vetting steps for appointed candidates. What she's saying: Opting to allow recess appointments without congressional approval, would "avoid and evade the Senate's constitutional duty to do advice and consent," Collins said at an Axios event on the future of cognitive care.To her, "that means a background check, it means extensive committee investigations and questionnaires and public hearings," she told Axios' Peter Sullivan.Collins, who called for additional federal funding for Alzheimer's and other cognitive care research, said there "could be" an upheaval at the NIH, FDA and other key divisions due to Trump's health agency administration picks.The big picture: Trump has tapped ex-Independent presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services — an agency he could dramatically reshape.He also selected TV personality Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Oz has no experience running a large government bureaucracy.While the Senate Finance Committee ultimately confirms the HHS secretary, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), on which Collins serves, will also hold a hearing, she told Axios.The HELP committee will handle Oz's confirmation hearings.State of play: Incoming HELP chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has applauded Oz's appointment and said he will "look forward" to learning more about Kennedy's policy positions. He also lauded him for having "championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure."Collins told Axios earlier this month she has not taken a position on Kennedy's nomination.When asked about Kennedy's pending promotion, Cassidy told Axios, "You need to speak to the person who you're considering before you make up your mind."Zoom out: The conversation over Trump's request for recess appointments threatens to bubble into a battle between the next commander-in-chief and Senate Republicans who do not wish to shirk their advice-and-consent role.Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has signaled an openness to the idea — but not all of his Republican colleagues in the chamber agree, including outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).Go deeper: Meet the GOP's Senate resistance

“No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!” Trump said on social media. But Democrats are making judges a priority in the lame duck ― just like the GOP did, too.

The president-elect is looking at ways to circumvent delays in the Senate confirmation process.

Donald Trump’s transition team has begun what a close ally calls a hostile takeover of the federal government, ignoring the rules for the handover of power in the process.

North Carolina Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickels suggests that the U.S. borrow from the United Kingdom and establish a shadow cabinet to take on the incoming Trump administration.

With a projected GOP House majority, President-elect Trump regains a Republican trifecta, boosting chances to push his agenda through Congress, similar to his first term.

The incoming president doesn't seem to care if his nominees can't win Senate confirmation.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota insisted to Republican senators he intends to carry out Trump's agenda and support him as the Senate leader.

IN SEPTEMBER, I wrote, “No matter who wins, the next president will declare that they have a ‘mandate’ to do something. And they will be wrong.”

A look at who has declined to express support for Gaetz, Kennedy, Gabbard and Hegseth.

With President-elect Donald Trump selecting House members for roles in his second administration, concerns have been raised about House Republicans' shrinking majority.

'This is a war the establishment cannot be allowed to win'

The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business.Looking Ahead to 2025. The U.S. Congress is back this week for its lame-duck session, but even with a lengthy to-do list, all eyes are on 2025, as the labor, employment, and immigration policy landscapes are already coming into clearer focus after last week’s elections. Here are the latest post-election developments:Congressional leadership. This week, Republicans began the process of sorting out their leadership ranks for the 119th Congress. In the U.S. Senate, Republicans elected John Thune of South Dakota to be Senate majority leader in the 119th Congress. It has been eighteen years since anyone other than Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has led Republicans in the Senate. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson (R-LA) will be the Republicans’ nominee for Speaker of the House in a floor vote that... Read the complete article here...© 2024, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., All Rights Reserved.

President-elect Trump has made quick work of pulling together a Cabinet and group of senior aides for his incoming administration, roiling Washington with some of his more controversial picks in the process. Trump issued a flurry of nominations and appointments during his first full week as president-elect, sending lawmakers scrambling to react. Here are five [...]

'Ten GOP members have endorsed a candidate so far'

All three candidates for Senate GOP leader are making MAGA appeals, committing to more floor debate and amendments and better communication as they make their final pitch ahead of Wednesday's leader elections. Why it matters: A growing number of senators want a new style of leadership after nearly two decades under Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — and years of battles between him and President-elect Trump. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) is promising more amendments, more power and input from average senators, a focus on getting young, conservative judges confirmed and to spend time over the lame duck discussing how to make the chamber work better, he told colleagues in a letter on Tuesday, obtained by Axios.Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to tell senators in a Tuesday night meeting that he won't assume bills get 60 votes, and he will encourage floor debate and amendments. He also is promising weekly meetings with the House Speaker and Vice President Vance as well as a December conference on GOP priorities, a source familiar tells us.Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) launched his bid as the leader most committed to significant change. He has taken a notably more public approach to his bid for leader, blanketing the airwaves and riding a wave of support from influential voices in Trump world.The intrigue: One source close to Scott points out that many of the plans for a more open process that are being laid out by Thune and Cornyn mirror the kind of changes Scott has been pushing for the past two years.How it works: The candidates will make their final argument to be leader tomorrow morning before the vote — including nominating speeches from two colleagues, each.If none of the three candidates win 27 votes in the first round, the candidate with the lowest vote total is removed and they all vote again.Scott won 10 votes when he ran against McConnell in 2022. He'd need to nearly triple his level of support to win a majority of Senate Republicans in 2024.If Scott is eliminated in the first round, it is a big question whether Thune or Cornyn will be more likely to gain his supporters' votes.

The Florida lawmaker wants to be Senate majority leader, but guns rights advocates are lobbying against him, as they dislike his support for the state's gun control legislation enacted after the Parkland school shooting. Senators are to vote Wednesday on a new leader in a secret ballot.

Former President Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Nov. 5.

Sen. John Fetterman called Sen. Marco Rubio "a strong choice" for secretary of state amid reports that President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap Rubio for the role.