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Sen. Ron Johnson says it would be ‘political malpractice’ to rush a conference vote on leadership this week. Several others agree.
A handful of Republican senators have at least attempted to slow the coronation train for failed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.The South Dakota Republican announced shortly after the GOP got its brains beat out in Tuesday’s midterm that since he was so successful in losing the majority, he would very much like to lead Senate Republicans as a significantly diminished minority. Thune and his swamp buddies moved quickly to try to secure their leadership positions, calling conference elections for Tuesday — exactly one week after the party lost control of the House and Senate in the blue trouncing.
“I don’t think any rational, honest person [could] blame John Thune for any of this,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told reporters last week. Thune’s Dakota buddy is wrong. Very wrong.
“I saw a report that says Senator John Thune is gliding into the Senate Minority Leader role,” Alex Bruesewitz, adviser to President Donald Trump, wrote on X. “Why do Hill Republicans insist on rewarding failure? He’s not exactly in touch with the interests of Republican voters,” he continued. “Perhaps it’s time to give someone else a chance?”
I saw a report that says Senator John Thune is gliding into the Senate Minority Leader role. Why do Hill Republicans insist on rewarding failure? He’s not exactly in touch with the interests of Republican voters. Perhaps it’s time to give someone else a chance?
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) November 5, 2026‘Political Malpractice’
Sen. Ron Johnson reportedly has secured the five signatures needed from his Republican colleagues to slow down the rush to crown Thune Republican leader again.
In a letter to be sent Monday to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the Wisconsin Republican asserts Tuesday’s “stunning defeat” needs more deliberation from Republicans before rolling on with the status quo.
“We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to what we can do to improve the outcome in 2028,” Johnson and like-minded colleagues wrote, according to multiple media reports.
“Holding leadership elections without engaging in a robust discussion and evaluation of how those running for leadership intend to lead would be political malpractice. It is certainly not the way leadership elections should be conducted in the world’s most deliberative body,” the letter states.
As Johnson rightly pointed out, Republican senators don’t even know how many members they’ll have in their conference. As of Sunday night, extremely tight races in Alaska and Mississippi had yet to be called.
Thune critics, Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Rick Scott., Fla., and Dave McCormick, R-Penn., have each said publicly that they back Johnson in the effort.
I’m a business guy. Good companies make a plan for success and then hire the best person to get it done, not the other way around. I signed @SenRonJohnson’s letter on Friday because the Senate should work the same way.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) November 8, 2026“All Republican senators should support this effort,” Lee urged in a post on X. “No need to rush into leadership elections before discussing what happened and how best to move forward.”
The Utah senator included in a post Senate GOP rules which state that a Republican Party Conference to elect officers “shall be held” within one week after the beginning of each Congress — not one week after a shellacking at the polls. While Lee notes the conferences have often been held earlier, as they were following the 2024 election, “perhaps Senate Republicans should assess leadership candidates based on how they lead the conference over the next few weeks while we still have the majority—especially while the full membership of the next conference is still being determined.”
Senate GOP rules contemplate leadership elections occurring between January 3rd & January 10th. They’ve often been held earlier than that, but perhaps Senate Republicans should assess leadership candidates based on how they lead the conference over the next few weeks while we still have the majority—especially while the full membership of the next conference is still being determined.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 7, 2026‘YOU DID NOTHING’
Thune’s delusion appears to know no bounds. In a social media post, the majority leader insisted that “Senate Republicans have put up a strong record of accomplishment” over the past two years.
Election integrity warrior Cleta Mitchell begged to differ, pointing to Thune’s weak efforts in moving the extremely popular SAVE Act and its successor, the SAVE America Act. The bills would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to vote in U.S. elections. --->READ MORE HERE
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