Dana Hess writes for South Dakota Searchlight, an online news organization.

Lord, I’ve seen the world with a five-piece band

Looking at the back side of me

Singing my songs, one of his now and then

But I don’t think Hank done ’em this way, no

I don’t think Hank done ’em this way.

“Are You Sure Hank Done it this Way” by Waylon Jennings

You’ve seen the photo plenty of times. Sen. Mitch McConnell standing at a microphone with what amounts to his own “five-piece band” lined up behind him. These are Republican Party leaders in the Senate showing their support for whatever McConnell has to say as their party’s leader.

For quite a while now, one of the members of McConnell’s band has been South Dakota’s own John Thune. He’s back there in those photos, showing his loyalty. Depending how close the camera zooms in on McConnell, sometimes part of Thune’s head gets cropped off because he’s so tall.

Soon it will be Thune at the microphone with his own band of loyalists lined up behind him as he takes over McConnell’s role as Republican leader in the Senate. Time will tell if he does things McConnell’s way or not.

Here’s hoping as the guard changes in the GOP’s Senate leadership that Thune adheres to that institution’s traditions. After the recent election victory of Donald Trump, those traditions are under fire.

In particular, Trumps wants the Senate to stay out of session so that he can make recess appointments to fill out his Cabinet. It seems Trump doesn’t want the appointment process to be slowed down by a bunch of fool questions from senators inquiring about the worth of his nominees.

The president-elect floated this idea as a way to save precious time so that his administration could get right to work. Now, with a few nominations under his belt, it looks as if Trump is trying to bypass the traditional advice and consent role of the Senate because his roster of nominees reads like a skit on “Saturday Night Live.”

It’s hard to tell which nominee inspires a bigger laugh: Matt Gaetz (who has withdrawn his nomination) as attorney general or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services. His other nominees are no laughing matter: Tulsi Gabbard with her well-documented fondness for dictators as director of National Intelligence and Pete Hegseth whose main qualification for secretary of Defense is his role as a weekend anchor on Fox News.

Thune’s new role in presiding over this circus is not the only South Dakota connection. Gov. Kristi Noem is Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security. A case could be made that even with Noem’s experience as governor and congresswoman, her resume is a little thin for taking on the job of running Homeland Security. Lucky for her, senators are so aghast at the thought of Gaetz ruining the Department of Justice and Kennedy unleashing his conspiracy theories on the Department of Health that in comparison, Noem looks like a competent pick.

(Trump may be pushing for recess appointments because he doesn’t want senators who have read Noem’s book, “No Going Back,” to ask for her definition of “security.” In the book, she admits to using Hell’s Angels to keep the roads open around Mount Rushmore during Trump’s Fourth of July visit. If that’s her definition of security, maybe the Bandidos can lend a hand with airport screenings.)

This piece started with a quote from Waylon Jennings in a song that was a plea for a change in country music. When it’s Thune’s turn at the microphone with his own five-piece band behind him, it would be best for us all if he resisted Trump’s call for change in the way the Senate conducts its business. Certainly Thune’s leadership style will be different from McConnell’s. However, despite the pressure he faces from the president-elect, the nation is counting on Thune to resist change and uphold the Senate’s tradition of holding hearings that question the competence and worth of Trump’s Cabinet nominees.