In January, South Dakota Senator John Thune will assume the role of Senate Majority Leader as Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell vacates his post, before retiring in 2026.

As to Thune’s role in pushing through incoming President Trump’s cabinet appointments and agenda at large… Should you be hopeful?

Maybe. But probably not. The Senate stands to be complicated and ever-shifting ground for the incoming Trump administration in early 2025.

Furthermore, as Jim Rickards has pointed out, there are 11 RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) in the U.S. Senate, and he lists Thune as one of them.

The definition of a RINO — and the characteristics they exhibit in the wild — has changed in recent years. A centrist Republican a few years ago was in danger of becoming a RINO.

Today, any non-MAGA aligned Republican can catch the RINO label, and suffer for it back home. We’re not suggesting that’s good or bad politics, it’s just the reality.

We’ll go through Jim’s list of Senate RINOs below, and also look at the near-term priorities facing Senator Thune as he assumes the top spot in the Republican Senate Conference.

Your Rundown for Friday, December 27, 2024...

RINOs v. MAGA v. All The Democrats

First up, math class. Republicans will enter this Senate term with 53 seats.

Democrats have 45, but functionally a 47 vote bloc because both Independent Senators, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine conference with the Democrats.

This means on any issue, Republicans can lose 3 votes. A slim, but not a perilous margin.

Enter the RINOs.

According to Jim’s analysis, the 11 RINO Republicans in the Senate are Mitch McConnell, John Thune, John Cornyn, Joni Ernst, Thom Tillis, John Barrasso, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, James Lankford and Mike Rounds.

Joni Ernst of Iowa, you’ll remember, made news in recent weeks over her meeting(s) with Trump Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth.

John Cornyn of Texas faces a probable primary battle against Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, in a clear RINO versus MAGA matchup.

Tillis, Collins and Murkowski all fall in the range of what a generation ago we would have called classic centrist Republicans, which today makes them RINOs.

And then there’s Thune. Blasted by Trump after Thune’s opposition to challenging the 2020 presidential-election results, Thune remains a popular figure in his home state. He’s a political lifer, a consummate dealmaker…

… A younger Mitch McConnell, in other words.

The stakes are high — immigration, healthcare, taxes, tariffs…

Can Thune get the entire Republican Senate Conference in line when needed, RINOs included, and get Trump’s appointments and early priorities rolling forward?

Time will tell. Call us suspiciously optimistic. Every Senate Democrat, rest assured, will be looking for cracks in the Republican wall to exploit.