President-elect Donald Trump congratulated Sen. John Thune on winning election to the role of Senate majority leader, declaring that the lawmaker "will do an outstanding job."

WASHINGTON—Republican senators chose John Thune of South Dakota as their first new leader in nearly two decades, opting for continuity over calls for radical change heading into populist President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is one of the most powerful people in Washington that folks outside D.C. have never heard of.