Senate Republicans reelected Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as their leader on Tuesday, after a day of private discussions among members of the conference.

Thune was running unopposed and was widely expected to prevail. Some senators had sought to delay the leadership decision; the conference voted 31 to 15 to proceed with the secret-ballot election after Thune made his case, according to Associated Press reporting. He laid out his vision for the conference and said Republicans would try to accomplish as much as they could in the remaining weeks of this Congress, including government funding, confirmation of President Donald J. Trump’s nominees, and war spending.

Trump hosted Thune and his family at the White House in October. On Monday the president called the Republican leader “a very fine man” and said the leadership election was “up to the Senate.”