In his first speech as Senate majority leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota used his first few minutes to pledge to defend the filibuster rule, which requires at least 60 votes in the Senate to pass legislation.
“One of my priorities as leader will be to make sure the Senate stays in the Senate,” Thune said. “That means maintaining the legislative filibuster, perhaps the most influential Senate rule today in preserving the vision of the founders of the United States Senate.”
Thune’s comments came after the Senate adjourned to begin its new session.
John Thune speaks to reporters after the weekly Senate luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on December 17, 2024 in Washington.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
At the opening of the new Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris swore in all 32 senators elected in November, including 12 former members, some of whom helped secure a new Republican majority in the upper chamber.
In this new Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats, a three-seat majority, which gives President-elect Donald Trump a comfortable lead in confirming his Cabinet and federal board nominees, which only need 50 votes to confirm.
But Senate rules currently require 60 votes to pass legislation. If Thune follows through on his pledge to uphold this rule, that means most legislative issues will have to be approved by the seven Democrats or independents in the Senate who align with Democrats. It keeps engagement front and center in the upper chamber.
Thune’s speech Friday evening is not the first time he has pledged to uphold the Senate’s 60-vote limit, which Democrats unsuccessfully tried to avoid in order to pass voting rights legislation in 2022. he has become the leader of the majority and since then he has spoken to him.
But Thune, who will undoubtedly come under scrutiny from Trump for quickly moving his legislative agenda across the finish line, chose to use his first moments as Senate Republican leader to reaffirm his commitment to 60 votes. the threshold is significant.
Trump tried to pressure Republicans to abandon the legislative rule in 2018, when Trump first took office and Republicans controlled the Senate. It was then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who prevented the Senate from taking that step. Democrats also indicated last year that they were interested in considering an overhaul of the rule if they managed to retain control of the Senate, which they did not.
Thune’s comments at the meeting today indicate he won’t back down from Trump if the president-elect is frustrated by the Senate’s inability to quickly move legislation that lacks Democratic support and mounts a pressure campaign to change the rule again.
“Unfortunately, there are many people today who would like to turn the Senate into a carbon copy of the House of Representatives, and that is not what our founders wanted or what our country needs,” Thune said.
Republicans will have the ability to try to implement major policy changes without Democratic support using a procedural tool called budget reconciliation, which only needs a simple majority to pass the chamber. But the GOP’s slim majority in the House means even a reconciliation package will be a challenge to cobble together.
All other legislation will require 60 votes to pass.
Thune said the Senate will have a list of things it hopes to accomplish in the 119th Congress, including border security, tax reform, defense spending changes and larger government funding debates.
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, now the minority leader of this new Senate, said Democrats will do their part to try to work with Republicans as much as possible, citing a string of bipartisan victories in previous years.
Chuck Schumer speaks during an event in the State Dining Room of the White House, Jan. 2, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
“I want to work with the new Republican leader to hold that bipartisan line in the new year,” Schumer said. “I don’t expect that we will agree on everything or many things, but there will still be an opportunity to improve the lives of the American people if we are willing to work together.”
Schumer, who has repeatedly spoken out against Trump ahead of the 2024 election, said Democrats are ready to move on from the election.
“For the first time in a long time, the next president will be someone we’ve seen before: President-elect Trump will return to the Oval Office,” Schumer said. “On the first day of the 119th Congress, I’d like to take a moment to talk about how Senate Democrats will approach the next two years. It can be summed up like this: Democrats are united, not for who we’re fighting for. Who we’re fighting for — the American people.”
He also congratulated Thune on taking over as majority leader.
Thune fills McConnell’s role after 18 years at the helm of the Senate Republican Conference. Friday was Thune’s first day as party leader despite winning elections to the post in November.
Thun said he will “work every day” to deserve the trust his party members have placed in him as the new leader.
