Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), it is probably fair to say, is currently the least popular Republican on Capitol Hill – at least among President Donald Trump’s allies and supporters. The reason for that, any of those people would likely say, is that Sen. Thune doesn’t just appear unwilling or unable to get anything done, but he almost seems to be working against the president.

By President Trump’s own standards, that may even be a somewhat charitable way of describing the Senate leader’s obstructionist attitude.

Most recently, Thune indicated that he wasn’t on board with Trump tapping MAGA loyalist Bill Pulte for acting director of national intelligence. Sounding more like a Democrat than a Republican, the Senate leader said, “We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there.”

The senator also balked at a proposed $1.78 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that would have been used to compensate victims of past federal government abuses of power. “I don’t see a purpose for it,” John Thune said. So, on the one hand, he implies the president is trying to “weaponize” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and, on the other, he appears to........

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