FOR THUNE THE BELL TOLLS

Top Senator Faces Mutiny as Republicans Erupt Into Civil War

GOP lawmakers are sharpening their knives for the Senate Republican leadership.

Republicans are turning their wrath on Senate Majority Leader John Thune as they attempt to cope with their massive midterm defeats.

A growing number of GOP members are now pushing for Senate Republicans to delay their leadership election this week, so they have more time to examine what went wrong.

On Monday, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson sent a letter to Conference Chair Tom Cotton demanding that Tuesday’s election be delayed until caucus members can hear from those seeking the top job in the upcoming minority.

His letter was signed by North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Utah Sen. Mike Lee, and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy.

“Tuesday’s result was a stunning defeat,” they wrote. “We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to what we can do to improve the outcome in 2028.”

Despite once having a map believed to favor Republicans in the midterms, Democrats picked up seven seats, flipping Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. They’re also likely to take Alaska and Mississippi, where the races remain too close to call.

It will give Democrats at least a 54-seat majority in the Senate, and the 2028 map could be even worse for Republicans.

“Holding leadership elections without engaging in a robust discussion and evaluation of how those running for leadership intend to lead would be political malpractice,” the five senators wrote. “It is certainly not the way leadership elections should be conducted in the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

In a separate statement on Monday morning as senators return to Washington, D.C. for the first time since the end of September, Indiana Sen. Jim Banks, who saw a Democrat win a statewide race for the first time in his state since 2012 on Tuesday, also called for the leadership election to be delayed.

“We need to elect Republican leadership in the Senate, but tomorrow is too soon,” Banks said.

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The Indiana Republican called for a “frank conversation about where we fell short, what we stand for, and what we’re going to do for the working families who sent us here.”

Republicans have been grappling with what went so desperately wrong after voters delivered a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump and Republicans, who have held the majorities in both chambers since January 2025.

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Among the Republicans calling for a delay in the leadership election is Scott, who is demanding that the Senate stay in session every day until January, when Democrats take over the majority.

Among the pieces of legislation the Florida lawmaker has demanded the Senate take up is the SAVE America Act, which Republicans have not had the votes to pass in the Senate even before their disastrous election, when voters largely supported Democrats.

Trump has had mixed responses to Thune’s leadership in the Senate before the election. He has at times praised the current Senate majority leader, but at other times, he urged him to nuke the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act even though it didn’t even have enough GOP support.

The Daily Beast asked the White House if the president supports Thune remaining in leadership but did not receive an immediate response.

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Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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