Support Us - Launching Soon
 
Amount
Details
Payment
Choose Your Donation Amount To Support VoteDown
Your support will help VoteDown in its non-profit mission to make American Democracy responsive to the will of the voters.
$10
$25
$50
$100
$250
$500
Make it monthly!
 
Yes, count me in!
 
No, donate once
Pay With Credit Card

John Thune

 
John Thune Image
Title
Senator
South Dakota
Party Affiliation
Republican
2023
2028
Social Media Accounts
Twitter
: @
SenJohnThune
Instagram
: @
senjohnthune
Youtube
: @
johnthune
Donate Against (Primary Election)
Donate Against (General Election)
Top Contributors
(2022 - current)
73,200
NextEra Energy
NextEra Energy
$73,200
New York Life Insurance
$50,933
Blackstone Group
$45,000
Schneider National
$38,600
Arizona Tile
$38,500
Top Industries
(2022 - current)
945,035
Securities & Investment
Securities & Investment
$945,035
Retired
$879,091
Lobbyists
$448,061
Leadership PACs
$440,500
Real Estate
$417,226
VoteDown vs Influence Donors
Data supplied by OpenSecrets.org
Representative Offices
Address
205 6th Avenue SE
Suite
Suite 202
City/State/Zip
Aberdeen SD, 57401
Phone
605-225-8823
Address
246 Founders Park Dr.
Suite
Suite 102
City/State/Zip
Rapid City SD, 57701
Phone
605-348-7551
Address
5015 South Bur Oak
City/State/Zip
Sioux Falls SD, 57108
Phone
605-334-9596
News
02/12/2025 --npr
The former lawmaker faced questions about her level of experience and past comments about autocratic leaders, but ultimately the Senate confirmed her on Wednesday afternoon.
02/12/2025 --benzinga
President Donald Trump has tapped Terrance Cole, a former 22-year DEA official and Virginia public safety administrator, to take the helm of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).Trump announced the appointment Tuesday afternoon in a social media post. "Together, we will save lives, and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN," Trump wrote on Truth Social.Bad News For Cannabis Rescheduling And ReformTrump’s DEA choice dims hopes for a revival of the Biden administration-initiated marijuana rescheduling process. Why exactly? Cole's stance on cannabis appears to align with the late former First Lady Nancy Reagan's 1980s-era "Just Say No" campaign that helped launched the deadly War on Drugs.Read Also: $1 Trillion ...Full story available on Benzinga.com
02/12/2025 --unionleader
Tulsi Gabbard, a former U.S. representative with little intelligence experience, was confirmed as the top U.S. spy on Wednesday, as Republicans lined up behind a nominee once seen as among President Donald Trump’s most controversial picks.
02/12/2025 --kron4
The Senate voted largely along party lines Wednesday to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence, the nation’s top intelligence official, despite strong objections from Democrats and initial misgivings from Republicans who questioned her experience and judgment. The 52-48 vote caps two months of deliberations in the Senate over whether Gabbard, a [...]
02/12/2025 --theepochtimes
Former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed by the Senate to the position of director of national intelligence.
02/08/2025 --columbian
Standing before a mourning nation following a tragic commercial airline crash that killed nearly 70 people in Washington, D.C., President Trump offered his somber condolences and said everyone was “searching for answers.”
02/08/2025 --foxnews
House and Senate Republicans are on a collision course as they both race to pass their respective blueprints to enact President Donald Trump's agenda.
02/08/2025 --mountaineagle
Nearly one year ago, 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was murdered by a Venezuelan national who had been arrested multiple times for multiple offenses in America’s interior. Despite his criminal history and the fact that he broke the law...
02/04/2025 --dailycaller
'Veterans are a top priority for the Trump administration'
02/04/2025 --necn
The Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general Tuesday evening, putting a longtime ally of Donald Trump at the helm of a Justice Department that has already been rattled by the firings of career employees seen as disloyal to the Republican president.The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, with only Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, joining with all Republicans to pass her confirmation 54-46.Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist, is expected to oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump’s ire over the criminal cases it brought against him. She enters with the FBI, which she will oversee, in turmoil over the scrutiny of agents involved in investigations related to the president, who has made clear his desire to seek revenge on his perceived adversaries.Republicans have praised Bondi as a highly qualified leader they contend will bring much-needed change to a department they believe unfairly pursued Trump through investigations resulting in two indictments.“Pam Bondi has promised to get the department back to its core mission: prosecuting crime and protecting Americans from threats to their safety and their freedoms,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.But Bondi has faced intense scrutiny over her close relationship with the president, who during his term fired an FBI director who refused to pledge loyalty to him and forced out an attorney general who recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.While Bondi has sought to reassure Democrats that politics would play no part in her decision-making, she also refused at her confirmation hearing last month to rule potential investigations into Trump’s adversaries. And she has repeated Trump’s claims that the prosecutions against him amounted to political persecution, saying the Justice Department “had been weaponized for years and years and years, and it’s got to stop.”Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., praised Bondi as “accomplished and competent” but said his “grave concern is really about President Trump and what he is clearly demanding.”“That clearly is a loyalty oath to him as opposed to a demand for straightforward, candid advice, including if the president is asking for something to be done like the prosecution of a political adversary,” Welch said.Bondi’s confirmation vote came just hours after FBI agents sued the Justice Department over efforts to develop a list of employees involved in the Jan. 6 prosecutions, which agents fear could be a precursor to mass firings.Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove last week ordered the acting FBI director to provide the names, titles and offices of all FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 cases — which Trump has described as a “grave national injustice.” Bove, who defended Trump in his criminal cases before joining the administration, said Justice Department officials would carry out a “review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”Justice Department officials have also recently forced out senior FBI executives, fired prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team who investigated Trump and terminated a group of prosecutors in the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office who were hired to help with the massive Jan. 6 investigation.Bondi repeatedly stressed at her confirmation hearing that she would not pursue anyone for political reasons, and vowed that the public, not the president, would be her client. But her answers at times echoed Trump’s campaign rhetoric about a politicized justice system.“They targeted Donald Trump,” Bondi told lawmakers. “They went after him — actually starting back in 2016, they targeted his campaign. They have launched countless investigations against him.” She added, “If I am attorney general, I will not politicize that office.”Trump nominated Bondi for attorney general after it became clear that his initial pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, could not win enough support from Republican senators to be confirmed.Bondi has been a fixture in Trump’s orbit for years, and a regular defender of the president-elect on news programs amid his legal woes. In a 2023 Fox News appearance, she suggested that “bad” Justice Department prosecutors would be investigated under the Trump administration.“The investigators will be investigated,” she said.Smith has said politics played no part in his decisions and the evidence his team gathered was sufficient for Trump to have been convicted at trial on charges of scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.Smith dropped that case and a separate one charging Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after Trump’s election win in November, citing longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting criminal cases against a sitting president.
02/04/2025 --dailycamera
Republicans appear to be rallying behind President Donald Trump’s health secretary nominee
01/31/2025 --washingtontimes
President Trump already has twice the number of Cabinet secretaries confirmed than he did at this point in his first term, but Senate Republicans are poised to fall short of their goal of meeting the confirmation pace set under President Obama.
01/31/2025 --axios
Senate Republicans are holding their breath over President Trump's tariffs, which kick in Saturday against Canada, Mexico and China.Why it matters: Many senators spent months telling Axios they saw the move from Trump more as a negotiating tactic. But some were concerned about what would happen if he followed through.🚨 Now, sweeping 25% tariffs start this weekend on Canadian and Mexican imports — and 10% on Chinese goods, the White House said Friday. All three countries have vowed to retaliate against broad tariffs.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Axios in August that "across-the-board tariffs is not something I have been for in the past." Thune is open to the selective use of tariffs.Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) described Trump's tariffs promises as potentially "problematic."Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), a former Senate Commerce Committee chair, also told Axios in August he's listening, but "not convinced that's the best approach."Between the lines: Senators often cite concerns about tariffs leading to inflated prices for Americans — after a campaign cycle where Republicans repeatedly said former President Biden's policies led to inflation.Zoom in: More tenured senators, especially free traders, have learned the value of waiting instead of staking out positions Trump can upend at any moment.Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is taking a "wait-and-see attitude," he told Reuters. Iowa is a big farm goods exporter."Normally I'd be stronger in my comments because I am a free trader. I used to be in the majority when free trading was a majority of the Congress, but now I am in the minority," he said.😈 The newer senators are on Trump's side, and they're content to let him cook."Everybody runs through the streets saying, 'The sky is falling! The sky is falling!' but it doesn't fall," Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.V.) told Reuters.Zoom out: The list of surprised leaders stretches beyond the Senate."I don't believe that will happen," House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week about across-the-board tariffs.
01/30/2025 --axios
Chart: Axios VisualsRFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard will have to sweat their confirmations over the weekend, based on what GOP senators said at hearings the past two days.Why it matters: Republicans with choice committee seats can blow up confirmations before they reach the Senate floor.Any GOP "no" vote means the nominee won't get the committee's recommendation.No recommendation = no floor vote, or at least a very unlikely one, as Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday.Senate Finance, which votes on Kennedy for secretary of Health and Human Services:Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told RFK Jr.: "I've been struggling with your nomination" and "you may be hearing from me over the weekend." Cassidy questioned Kennedy about vaccines at Thursday's HELP Committee hearing and has a vote on the Finance Committee.Senate Intel, which votes on Gabbard for director of national intelligence:Susan Collins (R-Maine) asked Gabbard if she'd seek a pardon or commutation for Edward Snowden. Gabbard said no to both. "I was happy with her responses to my questions," Collins told reporters Thursday night, per CNN.Todd Young (R-Ind.) told Gabbard, "It would befit you and be helpful for the way you're perceived by members of the Intelligence Committee" to say Snowden harmed national security. Gabbard repeatedly refused to call Snowden a traitor at the hearing.Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) offended Gabbard by saying he wanted to be sure Russia doesn't "get a pass in either your mind or your heart."John Cornyn (R-Texas) could not get a direct answer from Gabbard on whether warrants should be required for wiretaps under Section 702 of FISA. (He posted Thursday he's a yes on Gabbard).The bottom line: Even senators who support Gabbard were taken aback by her Snowden answers."I think there are a lot of questions after," Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) told reporters. "I thought that was going to be an easy softball question."
01/30/2025 --axios
The Senate on Thursday confirmed Doug Burgum to be Interior secretary in a bipartisan vote.Why it matters: Burgum will lead President Trump's efforts to expand oil and gas drilling on public lands and deal with any energy-related fallout from the administration's funding freeze.Driving the news: The former North Dakota governor and onetime 2024 presidential aspirant cleared the Senate in a 79-18 vote.He previously advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with an 18-2 vote.What they're saying: Majority Leader John Thune praised Burgum's record as governor and said he would "bring the same data-driven, consensus-based, think-big work ethic to his work as Secretary of the Interior."During his confirmation hearing, Burgum made the case for speedier permitting and putting more baseload power — namely, coal, nuclear and oil and gas — onto the grid."We have a shortage of electricity, and especially we have a shortage of baseload," he told the committee. "We know that we have the technology to deliver clean coal."Between the lines: Burgum is also slated to lead Trump's National Energy Council — which has yet to be formally created — and will have a seat on the National Security Council.He'll likely have coordinating permitting and production efforts across agencies and will be at the center of Trump's energy emergency executive order.If you need smart, quick intel on federal energy policy for your job, get Axios Pro Policy.
01/30/2025 --washingtontimes
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said his stomach turned while watching President Trump "spew up conspiracy theories" over the deadly collision of a military helicopter and commercial plane near Washington's Reagan National Airport.
01/30/2025 --rollcall
Secretary of the Interior nominee Doug Burgum arrives for his confirmation hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on January 16.
01/30/2025 --kron4
Hearing-mania is set to consume Capitol Hill on Thursday as a trio of President Trump's top allies appear for high-stakes confirmation showdowns with senators that could make or break their chances of getting across the finish line. Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Kash Patel will simultaneously appear for confirmation hearings Thursday morning, setting [...]
01/27/2025 --theepochtimes
Both the House and Senate must pass identical budget resolutions in order to unlock the reconciliation process.
01/27/2025 --rollcall
Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump's pick for Treasury secretary, testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Jan. 16.
01/27/2025 --chicagotribune
A former moderate congressman from Indiana, Lee Hamilton, believed Congress should work with, but not be a supplicant to, the executive branch.
01/27/2025 --foxnews
House Republicans are in Florida for the next three days to hash out their agenda and hear from President Trump.
01/27/2025 --rollcall
The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on the nomination of Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
01/23/2025 --theepochtimes
Democrats blocked the same bill in the Senate. The bill comes as thousands of pro-lifers are expected to flood the capital for the 52nd National March for Life.
01/23/2025 --nbcnews
Senate Republicans are rejecting a request by moderate Democrats to jettison their party-line efforts on immigration and work on a bipartisan solution.
01/23/2025 --dailycaller
'He will bring valuable knowledge and experience'
01/23/2025 --foxnews
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he supports Democrat efforts to slow down the confirmation of President Trump's Cabinet, including for key national security roles.
01/23/2025 --theepochtimes
A bipartisan majority in the Senate voted 74–25 on Jan. 23 to confirm the former intelligence director as the next head of the CIA.
01/23/2025 --kron4
The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency in overwhelming bipartisan fashion, making him the second member of President Trump’s national security team to be approved by the upper chamber. Senators confirmed Ratcliffe in a 74-25 vote. Twenty-one members who caucus with Democrats voted with every present Republican. Sen. John Fetterman [...]
01/19/2025 --troyrecord
The once and future president returns to power with know-how and a very different team.
01/19/2025 --columbian
WASHINGTON — Zach Nunn’s military background tells him that success in any given mission requires an understanding of the battle-space — and in the fight to ban congressional stock trading, it will always “be stacked against” those urging change, the Iowa Republican and Air Force Reserve colonel said.
01/19/2025 --kron4
Republicans are on the verge of giving President-elect Trump a big win on immigration to kick off his second term — and doing it with the help of Democrats while dividing the minority party on the hot-button issue. The GOP spent years pillorying the Biden administration for being weak on the border and immigration, with [...]
01/15/2025 --clickondetroit
One by one, President-elect Donald Trump's hoped-for Cabinet is falling into place.
01/15/2025 --rollcall
Some members of Congress are looking to Donald Trump to boost their hopes for a congressional stock trading ban.
01/15/2025 --twincities
There is an important conceptual question — do tax cuts need to be offset with spending reductions? — that cannot be waved away.
01/15/2025 --foxnews
Trump's attorney general pick, Pam Bondi, to face questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
01/14/2025 --axios
The Trump transition proved today that it can impose its will on the Hill, even with a nomination that looked cooked before the holidays.Why it matters: Not a single Republican showed signs on Tuesday of opposing Defense nominee Pete Hegseth. Now he's got a clear path to the Pentagon."Pete Hegseth hit a home run," Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said on Fox News after the hearing.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Tuesday that Hegseth did well and expects he'll be quickly confirmed.Here's the formula:Survive the first two weeks: Trump's team got past the news cycles about Senate Republicans being quietly concerned about Hegseth's nomination. They've told us for a month that if he can get to his nomination hearing, he'll be fine.Sic MAGA foot soldiers on anyone suspected of falling out of line. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) was noticeably friendly at today's hearing. Ernst told local radio on Wednesday that she'll vote to confirm Hegseth.Stonewall the Dems: Only the committee's top Democrat — Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) — was allowed to see Hegseth's background check. Democrats were denied second rounds of questioning today. Hegseth didn't meet with any of the rank-and-file Dems ahead of today's hearing.Take advantage of the media's shattered glass: Today's most TV-ready moments from Senate Dems — Tim Kaine's hypotheticals on Hegseth's red lines and his behavior ... Kirsten Gillibrand's condemnation of his comments on women in the military ... Mazie Hirono's questions on his drinking — are unlikely to reach MAGA viewers.Zoom in: If you look past the spicy back-and-forth on Hegseth's character, there was a strong line of questions about whether he can do the job.The most prominent: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) tried to pin down Hegseth on whether he's ever led a major negotiation. She asked if he's familiar with high-level pacts like ASEAN.The Republicans on the panel were very clear that this isn't a dealbreaker. They even suggested that his lack of traditional experience running bureaucracies would benefit someone trying to clean house at the Pentagon.They backed him as he suggested he'd purge top brass and cut hundreds or thousands of civilian support staff in the Pentagon."The Dems struggled to land a blow or a gotcha moment," Banks told Axios after the hearing."With today's performance, I believe Pete Hegseth's path to confirmation has been assured," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Axios.Go deeper:Five questions Hegseth dodgedHegseth claims "smear campaign"Hegseth says he was blocked from working Biden inauguration over tattoo
01/14/2025 --nbcnews
House Speaker Mike Johnson is laying down a highly ambitious timeline to approve President-elect Donald Trump’s big-ticket legislative agenda.
01/14/2025 --nbcnews
Donald Trump's pick to be defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, received a friendly reception from Republican senators at his confirmation hearing.
01/14/2025 --huffpost
Democrats grilled Trump’s defense secretary pick over ugly allegations against him. But barring a last-minute surprise, he appears on track to be confirmed.
01/11/2025 --cbs17
House Republicans have a problem. They want to pass a massive agenda for President-elect Trump, preferably in his first 100 days of office. And they don’t want to add to the federal deficit. That looks impossible. Trump’s agenda includes an extension of his 2017 tax cuts, with possible plus-ups that include no taxes on tips [...]
01/11/2025 --foxnews
President-elect Donald Trump reportedly signaled that he plans to push around 100 executive orders once he takes office later in January.
01/11/2025 --stltoday
Finishing the U.S-Mexico border wall and migrant detention facilities are part of about $100 billion in proposals, senators said.
01/07/2025 --nypost
“Amnesty International is free to operate in Israel, but Amnesty Israel isn’t free to operate within Amnesty International,” snarks Commentary’s Seth Mandel.
01/07/2025 --dailycaller
'It is vital the senate confirms President Elect Trump's national security nominees swiftly'
01/07/2025 --abc4
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Tuesday took the necessary procedural steps to place Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) bill blocking transgender athletes from women’s sports on the Senate calendar. The step sets up a vote on Tuberville’s bill in the weeks ahead. The legislation, dubbed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, [...]
 
Service Launching By The End Of 2024

Please help us spread the word and support our non-profit mission.
 
Service Launching By The End Of 2024

Please help us spread the word and support our non-profit mission.