John Thune is on the hot seat. Most Americans would ask, Who is that? He’s the Republican majority leader of the Senate, one of the most powerful positions in the U.S. He replaced the long-serving Mitch McConnell, the brilliant political strategist who dominated much of the Senate’s actions for decades. Thune is responsible for moving legislation and appointments through the Senate.

While he did yeoman work shepherding President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bil” through the Senate, he has thwarted the will of the Senate to please the President. Eighty-five members signed onto the Graham-Blumenthal Russian sanctions bill, yet the Republican leadership under Thune has not brought the legislation to the floor. After the failure of the Alaska summit to achieve a ceasefire due to Putin’s intransigence, it’s time to apply maximum pressure on Russia.

As I’ve pointed out, the Trump administration has been visibly tougher on Ukraine than Russia. The administration’s theory was to bring the latter to the negotiating table. Well, Trump met with Putin, and Putin came away with enhanced prestige while giving up nothing. The Russian attacks on civilians have intensified. If there was ever a time to deal Russia pain, it’s now.

What we are getting from the administration is, at best, mixed signals. Instead of blaming the continued fighting on Putin, the Trump administration holds both countries equally to blame. While acknowledging Russian attacks on civilians, Caroline Leavitt, the presidential press secretary, pointed out that Ukraine had taken out 20% of Russia’s fuel capacity. This equivalence is an apples-and-oranges comparison. Oil refineries and pipelines have always been legitimate war targets, while direct civilian targeting is a war crime.

Even stranger is the recent disclosure that Exxon is in talks with Russians regarding the development of Russian oil assets. Why would the largest American oil company be cleared to work with the Russians to increase output? Russia pays for this ugly war with oil sales. How is it in our interest to help Russia?

The eighty-five pro-Ukrainian senators reflect the majority of Americans. They don’t want to see another Afghan fiasco. Still, a prospective Russian victory in Ukraine could prompt Europeans to intervene, significantly widening the war, assuming Russia is weaker now than it will be later. In any case, it will encourage others, such as China, to increase their aggression. The senators are aware of all this, yet Thune stands in the way of tough action against Russia.  

Eighty-five votes can bring the Bill to the Senate floor over leadership’s objections, but only at the cost of a brawl between the President and Congress. What would that do to our world standing?

John Thune looks like a leader, maybe even a president, yet he never lit a national political fire. Drawn to the GOP by Ronald Reagan’s skepticism of big government, he’s been a conventional free-trade, small-government Republican, who has clashed with Trump in the past, notably over the 2020 election and the Access Hollywood tape. Florida’s Rick Scott was Trump’s preferred candidate for majority leader, but most Republicans supported Thune. Those votes show support for Reagan’s Republican values.

As the majority leader, Thune obviously wants to elect as many Republican senators as possible; however, sticking too close to Trump may prove fatal to Republicans. A few posts ago, I wrote that Trump was approaching the apex of his second term. As I predicted, the Appeals Court affirmed the lower court’s ban on most of Trump’s tariffs. Even if the Supreme Court acts with unusual speed, confusion reigns. The most prudent course of action for the high court is to refuse to hear the Trump administration’s appeal. Only Congress, not the President, can constitutionally levy tariffs.

Tariffs are unpopular, and the mess caused by their imposition will really upset the public. No one can predict in advance how the President will react, but given Trump’s past actions, it could escalate into something ugly. No politician wants to be associated with any of that.

Other recent Trump actions sound more progressive than conservative. Forcing companies to surrender equity positions to the government creates numerous market distortions. A sovereign wealth fund or foreign governments giving Trump billions to invest as he wishes is akin to the government picking winners and losers. What could go wrong? Look at the old Soviet Union, Venezuela, or Cuba and see how it turns out.

Parties out of power typically perform well in midterm elections. Even though the Democratic Party has lost popularity, as Tip O’Neil said, “All politics are local.” You can count on individual Democratic candidates to distance themselves from their party’s more unpopular positions.

Without Trump on the ballot, many of his voters may stay home as they have in the past, while the President, who is currently underwater in polls, will be a focal point of the Democrats’ get-out-the-vote campaign. However, by passing the Bill, the Republicans can have a bipartisan success while showing compassion for the Ukrainian civilian bloodshed to point to.

Given all these hurdles, it makes sense for Republicans to move away from the President. Thune needs to sit down with the President and inform him that he will schedule a vote on the Bill unless he takes decisive action, including sanctions and supporting the destruction of targets inside Russia. This move avoids a public fight.

It is unlikely Trump would try to have Thune voted out of his job, considering his previous failure and the strong support for the legislation.

It’s time for Thune to step up. If not, he has blood on his hands.