WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans reelected South Dakota Sen. John Thune as their leader Tuesday after a tense day of private discussions about steep losses in the midterm elections that cost them their majority.
Thune was always expected to prevail, as he is popular with his GOP colleagues and was running unopposed in the secret-ballot election. But Senate Republicans vented their frustrations in three separate meetings Tuesday after an election wipeout that cost them at least seven Senate seats.
Some Republicans had tried to delay the leadership decision, but the conference voted 31-15 to proceed. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson led the effort to postpone and walked out when it failed. The closed-door meetings were held in the small Old Senate Chamber with few aides in attendance.
As the conference debated earlier in the day, West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice said “we want to be thoughtful and do the right thing.”
He said there was a “legitimate argument that, good gracious, if we lost as badly as we lost, why would we continue on with the same leadership?”
At the same time, the current GOP leadership “didn’t cause this problem to happen,” Justice said. “They do a good job.”
Republicans' angst and indecision come as frustrated Republicans are just beginning to reckon with what the election results mean for their future — and for their relationship with President Donald Trump, as voters resoundingly rejected their two years of single-party rule in Congress and the White House. Two additional Senate races remain uncalled in Alaska and Mississippi that could further deplete their numbers.
“I just think that we’ve got a lot of things that we’ve got to think through, and I think that to just rush into this and just ratify all of the same leadership, what message does that send?” Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told reporters after the first meeting.
“If you don’t think after losing seven Senate seats minimum that we need to change course, I don’t know what planet you’re on,” said Hawley, who voted to delay the elections. He said he wasn't aware of anyone else running for leader, but “maybe there would be” if they waited.
Others said Thune wasn't the problem. “I don't think it was the fault of our leadership, quite frankly," said West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who was reelected to her leadership position as GOP policy chair.
Thune, who replaced Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as leader in early 2025, said before the meeting that they would have a "very fulsome, robust conversation about where we go from here and then we'll see what the consensus of the conference is."
No alternative to Thune emerged
Hawley said the discussion was a “frank” and “honest” open microphone meeting and some senators discussed their own races this year — some who won, and some who lost.
Republicans in the meeting were also pushing Thune to stay in session around the clock in the coming weeks to push through war spending and other party priorities before they lose power in January.
“We need a plan to get the Republican agenda done,” said Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Before the meeting, Johnson, the Wisconsin senator, had circulated a letter asking for the delay. He said the conference needs to do some “real soul-searching” but also conceded that there was no one else on the ballot.
“That's part of our problem, who would want the job?” he said, turning to a reporter and joking, “Do you want it?”
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Lankford said that there was “widespread support” among Republican senators for Thune, who has made it a point to hear out different viewpoints before he makes major decisions and has maintained close relationships with the rank and file — a different approach from his predecessor, McConnell.
Lankford said he supported having the elections on Tuesday because many of the new GOP senators were already in town for freshman orientation.
“It’s a pretty complicated role to be able to manage,” Lankford said of Thune's leadership post. “No one wants that job.”
Walking into the meeting, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said most senators were ready to move forward. It is time to have “leadership in place,” he said.
Thune has navigated Trump in his first two years as leader
Thune has spent much of the last two years navigating Trump, who has often been at odds with the Senate.
While backing Trump on most policies, Thune has refused to change Senate rules and scrap the filibuster to pass voting legislation that would require proof of citizenship for all voters — a position that frustrated Trump and enraged some in the president's political base.
Still, Trump hosted Thune and his family at the White House in October. He said Monday that the GOP leader is “a very fine man.” The election is “up to the Senate,” Trump said.
The soul-searching comes as lawmakers are trying to wrap up the year's work — funding the government and seeing if there are some issues where they can work together, including an energy permitting bill that moved forward on a bipartisan vote Monday evening.
Thune has emphasized his collaborative approach to his colleagues and pointed out what they did get done in the last year — including Trump's sweeping tax and spending cuts legislation and an attempt at reining in the chaotic annual spending process.
In a Senate floor speech Monday, his first extended remarks since the election, Thune said the midterm election was a “tough night” and previewed his pitch to his colleagues who may be looking for answers on how they will navigate the minority.
Republicans will be willing to work with Democrats, Thune said, but “the American people are not looking for socialist government and leftist fantasies.”
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Associated Press reporter Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.