DAVID MARCUS: Sen Thune's duty is to voters, not his Senate colleagues

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., overmuch similar his mentor and predecessor Sen. Mitch McConnell R-Ky., is simply a carnal of that austere and august precocious assemblage of Congress who has wholly forgotten his work to Republican voters.

It’s elemental math. The Senate contented that the GOP electorate cares astir astir is passing the Save America Act, with its elector ID requirements and different predetermination information measures, adjacent if it means blowing up the filibuster.

But GOP enactment insists that ending the 60-vote threshold and pushing this hyper-popular authorities done is simply impossible.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, joined by Sen. Tim Scott, speaks to reporters pursuing the play Senate Republican argumentation luncheon astatine the U.S. Capitol connected March 3, 2026. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Thune’s dilemma is whether his work successful this concern is to the instauration of the Senate, whose rules and customs helium seeks to preserve, oregon to the 95% of Republican voters shouting from the mountaintop to conscionable walk the bill.

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It is important to admit successful this statement that "Senate Majority Leader" is not a law position. Thune isn’t president of the Senate, Vice President JD Vance is. Thune is rather virtually a enactment boss.

Except helium refuses to brag his party.

The presumption of Senate bulk leader, and number person for that matter, which really came first, is simply a merchandise of the 1920s, and evolved implicit clip until it was mostly codified nether then-Senate bulk leader, and aboriginal president, Lyndon Baines Johnson successful the 1950s. Now determination was a enactment boss.

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Like the filibuster itself, bulk and number leaders look obscurity successful the Constitution. These are rules that the Senate has simply invented, supposedly to marque the precocious enclosure enactment better.

LBJ address (Keystone/Getty Images)

A cynic mightiness besides constituent retired that the 60-vote threshold to bash fundamentally thing gives each and each legislator acold much powerfulness than they would person without it. In effect, a fistful of bloody-minded objectors person the powerfulness to veto astir anything.

The constituent present is that arsenic a enactment boss, erstwhile beauteous overmuch each GOP elector wants the Save America Act, Thune's occupation is intelligibly to broadside with the voters, not with his lapel pin.

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Up until now, Thune has tried to play the filibuster question some ways, ever insisting that helium doesn’t person the votes, but ne'er truly saying if helium supports nuking it oregon not. He wants america to dainty it arsenic a moot point, but it is not one.

If helium supports sidesplitting the filibuster, past his occupation arsenic enactment brag is to cajole, threaten, and whip his fistful of recalcitrant Republican senators into line. You know, arsenic LBJ famously did by immoderate means necessary. Thune has done nary of that.

If, connected the different hand, Thune wants to support the 60-vote threshold, past helium should measurement down, oregon beryllium replaced, not due to the fact that helium owes thing to President Donald Trump, the titular caput of the GOP, but due to the fact that helium owes it to the party’s voters.

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Make nary mistake, those voters volition beryllium heard from, or, successful the worst-case scenario, not heard from arsenic they beryllium retired a midterm because, well, what quality does it marque if thing tin walk the Senate anyway?

Everyone who works to beforehand blimpish wins connected the crushed has been screaming astatine the enactment successful Washington, begging them to recognize conscionable however dire this betrayal by Thune truly is.

Scott Presler, who seems to bash small much than eat, slumber and registry voters crossed America, enactment it this mode successful an X Post this week: "With a White House, Republican House, & Republican Senate, galore voters are getting demoralized owed to the deficiency of enactment — particularly connected the portion of our Senate — to walk legislation."

Demoralized is precisely the close word, and John Thune’s connection to those voters is: "Sorry, but we can’t alteration the rules that we made up ourselves."

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While President Trump does not, and should not, person immoderate authorization implicit Leader Thune, helium is perfectly close that Democrats instrumentality unneurotic acold amended than Republicans. We volition spot that successful enactment erstwhile Democrats inevitably termination the filibuster the archetypal accidental they get.

Thune is not the person of the Senate, helium is the person of the Republican Party successful the Senate. His occupation is to get results for Republican voters. If helium can’t bash that, past idiosyncratic needs to measurement successful who can.

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