Senate GOP rebels move to delay leadership vote, demand reckoning after midterm disaster
Whether trying to slow down leadership elections turns into a shake-up in the Senate GOP’s power structure remains in the air, even with conservative voices outside the Senate calling for Thune to step aside.
Key points
- "We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to what we can do to improve the outcome in 2028." "Holding leadership elections without engaging in a robust discussion and evaluation of how those running for leadership intend to lead would be political malpractice," he continued.
- Senate Democrats flipped the chamber by clinching 54 seats, and that number could grow depending on the outcomes in Mississippi and Alaska.
- "Turning to leadership elections Tuesday morning would put the cart before the horse." Others who didn’t sign onto the letter, like Sens.
The Senate GOP is slated to hold its leadership elections Tuesday morning, where Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to seek another term as top Republican.
Ron Johnson, R-Wis., wants to delay the leadership elections to debrief after last week’s stunning losses and chart a path forward heading into the minority.
Additional details
- Last week’s pummeling on Election Night has a cohort of Senate Republicans wanting to take stock as lawmakers return to Washington, D.C.
- David McCormick, R-Pa., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., similarly want to take a beat before casting their votes for the leadership structure.
- "Our conference needs to sit down and have a frank discussion about where we fell short, what we stand for, and what we’re going to do for the working families who sent us here," Banks said in a statement.
- I’ve run twice," Scott said on Fox News’ "Saturday in America." When pressed if he would support Thune, however, Scott said, "We’ll see what happens." "We’ll see who else is going to run," he said.
- "We first need to digest what happened last week and make plans to move forward," Lee said on X.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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