A group of Senate Republicans is pushing to hit the brakes on John Thune’s reelection as GOP leader, arguing the party needs to reckon with last week’s midterm losses before it hands out leadership posts.
Seven Republican senators want to postpone the conference’s leadership elections, which are scheduled for Tuesday morning in the Old Senate Chamber.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is leading the charge and has gathered the five signatures needed to request a meeting of the full conference. Sens. Ted Budd of North Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and John Kennedy of Louisiana signed Johnson’s letter.
Two more Republicans, Sens. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Jim Banks of Indiana, publicly backed a delay in separate statements without signing on.
In his letter, Johnson described the election results as a “stunning defeat,” and he has argued that rushing ahead with the vote would amount to political malpractice. The Wisconsin Republican wants the conference to take a hard look at what went wrong before locking in a leadership team.
Johnson made clear he would not go along quietly. He told a reporter Monday that he would walk out of the room if the vote moved forward.
“An election defeat of this magnitude demands change,” Johnson wrote on X.
Banks echoed that message, saying in a statement that Republicans need to elect Senate leadership, but that Tuesday is too soon. He wants the party to confront its failures before deciding who will lead it. McCormick issued a similar call a day earlier.
Whether to postpone the elections is up to Senate Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
Thune, of South Dakota, is running unopposed and has left the question of timing to his colleagues. He has said he is not sure a delay would accomplish anything. Republicans are expected to discuss the election results before voting.
The pushback comes as Senate Republicans prepare to hand control of the chamber to Democrats, who swept both the House and Senate in last week’s elections. Thune is set to become minority leader when the new Congress convenes in January.
The frustration inside the conference extends beyond the timing of the vote. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told reporters Monday that he would not pledge his vote to leadership, and blamed the party’s losses on abandoning working Americans.
The leadership fight is one of several signs of a party searching for answers after a bruising election night. Republicans across Capitol Hill have spent the past week pointing fingers over the Iran war, high prices and the party’s message to voters heading into a new Congress where Democrats will hold the gavels in both chambers.
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