UPDATE:

Sen. John Thune has been named the new Republican majority whip.

That makes him the number two Republican behind U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Sen. Thune is taking over for Sen. John Cornyn, who was term-limited.

KSFY News reached out to David Wiltse, an assistant professor of political science at SDSU, to comment about Sen. Thune becoming majority whip:

"What I will say is that this is a significant step for him up the ladder of leadership," Wiltse said. "He has been well-placed before, but this places him essentially in the number two spot of leadership. That alone is big. If he retains his committee chair of Commerce, Science, and Transportation, he will have a very heavy hand in shaping any number of policy areas that could be extremely beneficial to the state and nation at large. This is also the kind of prominence that could put him on the radar as a potential presidential candidate in the 2024 election cycle.”

KSFY's Washington Bureau will have reaction from Sen. Thune on KSFY News at 6 p.m.

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ORIGINAL STORY:

Sen. John Thune is seeking to become the Republican Whip.

He is currently the chair of the conference, or the third ranking member. The whip is the second ranking member of the Senate who has the responsibility of marshaling votes during legislative debates.

If elected whip, Sen. Thune will be the highest ranking Republican senator from South Dakota in the state’s history, according to a member of his team.

The GOP conference will meet at 8:30 a.m. CT on Wednesday. KSFY's Washington Bureau will have reaction from Sen. Thune following the meeting.