Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., was elected to be the next majority leader Wednesday in a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans, replacing Mitch McConnell as he steps down from the top job after a record 18 years. The victory by Thune, a well-regarded institutionalist, shows that while the Senate Republican Conference has grown more aligned with President-elect Donald Trump with each successive election, it hasn’t transformed into the MAGA entity that the House GOP has become. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive it weekdays. An online army of Trump supporters mobilized to push for the underdog candidate, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., seeing him as the most loyal among their options. Not only did the effort fail, but some GOP aides told NBC News it also backfired and sparked a negative reaction among senators. The secret-ballot nature of the vote made them less susceptible to outside pressure and was a true test of how Republicans feel. But Scott was knocked off on the first ballot, getting the fewest votes of the three contenders. That teed up a head-to-head race on the second ballot between Thune and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a fellow long-serving institutionalist. Thune and Cornyn have both climbed their way up the ladder and broken with Trump in some areas in the past, including over Jan. 6 and his false claims about a stolen election. The most revealing part? Trump himself didn’t get involved in the race. Before the vote, Thune cautioned Trump against it on CNBC, saying: “I think it's probably in his best interest to stay out of that.” Neither Thune nor Cornyn endorsed Trump in this year’s GOP primaries. But both of them backed him in the general election after he coasted to the nomination. And after Trump's decisive general election victory, all three candidates ran for the post on a platform of advancing his agenda. “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today,” Thune said in a statement after he was elected. Still, in his first post-election news conference, he promised that Senate Republicans would preserve the legislative filibuster on his watch — the 60-vote threshold that Trump repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, pressured GOP senators to eliminate during his first term. Republican senators overwhelmingly agree with Thune about that. And the competing dynamics within the Senate GOP will quickly come to the fore again, as Thune and his members will oversee the confirmation process in the new year for Trump’s Cabinet selections. Already, several of those picks — GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida for attorney general, Democrat-turned-Republican former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and former National Guard member and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary — have drawn reactions ranging from surprise to bafflement. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said Gaetz's prospects of getting confirmed were "a long shot," adding that it’s “very possible” Trump is testing the limits of how far he can push the Senate. | 