Senator John Thune (R-SD) was elected Senate Majority Leader for the next Congress November 13. Thune, who served in the House previously, won his Senate seat in 2004 after defeating then-Democratic leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and has served on the Senate Finance Committee since 2011 (though the Majority Leader typically steps off committees). He is an ally of current GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), serving as second-ranking Whip since 2019, replacing Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who was then term-limited in that position and whom Thune edged out Wednesday for the top GOP post.

"Thune assembled a coalition that began with other GOP allies from similarly small states, defeating big-state, big-money rivals from Texas and Florida … " according to analysis in today's Washington Post. "Cornyn, 72, and Thune, 63, have remarkably similar backgrounds. They each have served 16 years in some role on McConnell's team, including six each as Republican whip, the No. 2 leadership post. They both serve on the Senate Finance Committee and believe in America's strong role around the world."

Four of the six Republican leadership posts are filled by tax-writers from the Finance Committee, ahead of expected consideration of a budget reconciliation bill focused on extensions of end-of-2025 expiring TCJA provisions on the horizon in 2025. House Republicans also elected their leadership roster, and press stories juxtaposed the more traditional and establishment-based Senate led by a senator who has long been a member of leadership with the more modern House with a Speaker who entered leadership last year. Both chambers will have narrow margins.

Tax — The Bloomberg Daily Tax Report said today that Senator Thune "has long championed wind energy, which provides about 55% of electricity in his home state of South Dakota. His powerful new role puts him in position to prevent Congress from repealing incentives that have made all those wind farms possible."

As the dust has settled following the elections, there have been questions about what may emerge from the House Ways & Means Committee's Republican tax teams that operated throughout the year. Politico this morning reported that the Committee has discussed addressing "so-called round-tripping by American multinational companies that have foreign subsidiaries in low-tax territories like Puerto Rico or Bermuda," and use them to "book profits on goods or services they provide in the U.S." and take advantage of the "much lower rate under a global minimum tax passed by Congress in 2017" relative to the corporate rate. "We've had conversations with the pertinent players in this space, and certainly there's no ambiguity with the particular industries that this is most applicable to," Global Competitiveness team chair Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) said in the report. "There's some opportunity to look at this idea and this thought of round-tripping, as [it] is so eloquently called, and see how we can best clean it up if necessary."

Of course, this reported effort comes amid vast speculation regarding how Republicans will settle on a revenue target for the tax-focused budget reconciliation bill — determining how much of the cost of the bill will be paid for and how much will be added to the budget deficit. "The incoming Republican majorities in the House and Senate mean Trump can enact a tax bill without making concessions to Democrats," Bloomberg reported this morning. "Republicans will only be constrained by how much deficit spending the party's lawmakers and global financial markets can tolerate."

The New York Times this morning walked through three scenarios for a Republican tax bill in 2025: maintaining the status quo, enacting modest tweaks to the current system, and an overhaul. "Perhaps the most significant change would be a tariff Trump has proposed for all imported goods. Republicans are discussing whether to pass such a tariff into law, though Trump could also likely enact it with executive authority. That tariff could help pay for the tax cuts, but they probably wouldn't raise enough to fully offset the cost," the report said. "Passing a tariff into law would make it impossible for a future president to remove them without help from Congress. It would also mark a fundamental change in fiscal policy in the United States. American policymakers have not treated tariffs as a way to generate revenue for the federal government in almost a century."

While the post-election focus has been on what Republicans will do on tax, there is also the matter of how Democrats will respond. A preview may come at a Senate Banking Subcommittee Economic Policy Subcommittee hearing, "Tax Policy in 2025: Implications for the American Economy," set for Wednesday, November 20 (2:00 PM). Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) chairs this subcommittee and is set to be full Committee ranking member in the next Congress. She also serves on the Finance Committee. During a September 18 Subcommittee hearing on "The Macroeconomic Impacts of Potential Tax Reform in 2025," Senator Warren said Republicans led by Former President Trump want $7 trillion in additional tax cuts including reducing the corporate rate, while Democrats have proposals for "higher taxes on the rich."

The Joint Economic Committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, November 19 (2:30 PM), on "Building on the Success of TCJA: The 2025 Tax Policy Debate." Witnesses include former Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX).

Next administration — President-elect Trump continued rolling out Administration nominees and appointees at a fast pace.