In 2004, a registered lobbyist for a railroad corporation got himself elected to the US Senate, and then he promptly helped his former client become eligible for billions in cheap federal loans in the wake of the company’s hazmat train derailment. The same Republican lawmaker later spearheaded the effort to repeal a major rail safety rule while becoming one of the Senate’s top recipients of campaign cash from the industry.

Now, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) is once again going to bat for the industry, positioning himself as a key obstacle to the most substantial rail safety initiative considered by Congress in years.

Thune, the second-highest-ranking Republican in the upper chamber, has been critical of the bipartisan push for quick and expansive legislation in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment that has rocked national politics.