Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is getting to enjoy his honeymoon phase for a little while longer. Anti-establishment conservatives who fought his rise to leader remain satisfied with Thune’s performance and are cautiously optimistic as President Donald Trump turns up the pressure to confirm his nominees and advance his second-term agenda.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said “Biden opened the door on this” when asked Tuesday about President Trump’s sweeping pardons of Jan. 6 protesters, including those convicted of

Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of ... they informed us of what they were doing,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said shortly after the vote asked about the two moderates.

The US Senate on Friday approved Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary by a razor-thin margin, in which, Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote.

With his confirmation at stake, Pete Hegseth is working the phones ahead of a Senate vote to shore up support to become the nation’s defense secretary.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted against President Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.

Three Republicans voted with every Democrat against Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Pentagon, forcing Vance to step in and put Hegseth over the top.

Pete Hegseth has vowed to bring his “warrior” ethos to the Pentagon. Democrats had assailed him as unfit for the job, and his confirmation came down to Vice President JD Vance serving as tiebreaker.

Vice President J.D. Vance was on hand to cast a tie-breaking vote, unusual in the Senate for Cabinet nominees, who typically win wider support.

Donald and Melania Trump are stopping in North Carolina, California and Nevada during their first second-term trip. Follow along for live updates.

Sen. Mitch McConnell joined two other Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in voting against Hegseth.

Even as handicappers adjudged Pete Hegseth ’s confirmation as secretary of Defense to be all but certain, not one but two Republican senators indicated a hard pass on the poorly qualified bad boy from Fox News.