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Senate GOP Meeting Paused as Conservatives Demand a Plan From Thune Before Leadership Vote
By Eleanor Ever Loyal
Senate Republicans paused their meeting Tuesday after nearly two hours of discussion over the party’s direction, with conservatives demanding a roadmap from Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) for the remaining lame-duck session and the transition to a Senate controlled by Democrats next year.
The senators streamed out of the Old Senate Chamber after the meeting, which followed Republicans’ loss of at least seven seats in last week’s election. The leadership vote on whether to re-elect Thune as Republican leader remained undecided at publication.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told reporters, “We’re still discussing. We ran out of time.” He said senators would reconvene at 2 p.m. to continue the discussion. Whether the leadership vote would take place Tuesday afternoon had not been determined.
Thune and his leadership team are pressing for a vote today on his re-election, while maintaining that members should have the time they need to be heard. The delay has exposed a dispute over whether Republicans should settle their leadership question immediately or first address concerns about the party’s strategy after losing control of the Senate.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, said he and several colleagues were seeking a clear plan from Thune for the rest of the lame-duck session and for confronting incoming Democratic majorities in both the Senate and House in 2027.
“We haven’t decided whether it’s going to be delayed. We had a conversation and more people wanted to speak,” Scott said.
Scott framed the demand in management terms, drawing on his business experience. “I said I’m a business guy. … I started a lot of businesses, I built a lot of businesses, I turned around a lot of businesses. The first thing is you have a plan of what you want to accomplish then you put together a management team.”
“I want to hear a plan. I’ve been up here eight years, I’ve never heard a plan in a year,” Scott added.
The immediate concern, he said, was how Republicans intended to use the remaining time before Democrats assume control. “We have 55 days until the Democrats take over. I said so I want to know what we’re going to do between now and then to get stuff done.”
A third Republican senator, speaking anonymously, described the gathering as a “lively discussion” and said colleagues wanted to hear “a plan” from Thune before voting.
The dispute follows earlier reports of resistance to Thune’s leadership bid. Fox News reported that Scott was withholding support, while The Hill reported that Johnson had raised the possibility of a walkout. Tuesday’s meeting brought those concerns into a broader discussion among Republican senators about leadership, priorities and the approaching change in party control.
The meeting was scheduled to resume at 2 p.m. Tuesday. At the time of publication, Republicans had not announced whether the leadership vote would proceed that afternoon or be delayed.
Reporting based on The Hill dispatches; this story will be updated as the leadership meeting resumes.
— Eleanor Ever Loyal, National Desk
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Update (Nov. 10): John Thune was re-elected Senate Republican leader after the internal party showdown. Read the follow-up: https://wordpress-1685271-6764347.cloudwaysapps.com/thune-re-elected-as-senate-republican-leader-after-internal-party-showdown/