John Thune is rubbing his jaw, one of his telltale signs he’s tired.
What should’ve been a week of celebration after muscling through his party’s second budget reconciliation package as Senate majority leader — nearly a year and a half into his tenure — was instead spent navigating hurdles set by the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
“There are a lot of things you just don’t control, and timing of White House announcements is one of them,” Thune, 65, said Thursday afternoon, as he settled into a plush chair in the Republican leader’s suite in the Capitol.
That’s becoming something of a pattern from the White House, complicating a careful leadership calculus for Thune.
Just minutes before the South Dakotan sat down for an interview, President Donald Trump had just thrown another obstacle his way: his announcement of Jay Clayton as nominee for director of national intelligence.
