Congress Watch · Report · File No. 261110-533
Senate Republicans recess leader talks; vote on delaying Thune's election set for 2 p.m.
Senate Republicans broke off a morning meeting after about two hours without choosing a leader. Several senators want a delay and a plan from leadership a week after midterm losses cost the party its majority.
Every quote in this story (2) was matched word for word against its source. How we work
Senate Republicans recessed their closed-door meeting Tuesday morning after about two hours, with no leadership vote yet. They are expected to return at 2 p.m. to keep talking and to vote on whether to delay their leadership elections 2. South Dakota Sen. John Thune is running unopposed for leader 1.
The meeting comes a week after midterm elections that cost Republicans at least seven seats and their Senate majority 1. Two more races, in Alaska and Mississippi, are still uncalled and could shrink the party's ranks further 1.
Who wants a delay, and why
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson circulated a letter asking for a delay in the secret-ballot elections 1. Johnson has said that, at a minimum, Senate Republicans need to hear from their leadership team about strategy going forward 2.
We need to have some real soul-searching,
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who signed Johnson's letter, said any leadership contest should wait until the Alaska and Mississippi races are decided 1. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said about a dozen senators spoke. He said senators had not heard much from leadership yet and that the comments were mostly dissent 2.
From Channel GOPChuck Schumer: Democrats have won the SenateChuck Schumer · 170 plays · captioned, with the source named
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said he had not heard from Thune personally 1. He tied the losses to Medicaid and rural hospital cuts in last year's tax bill, which he voted for after criticizing it 1.
This was the worst set of losses since Watergate, and Watergate was after one of the biggest political scandals in American history,
The case for voting now
Other Republicans want to move ahead. South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said most senators are ready to vote and that today is a good time to get leadership in place 2. Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said Thune has widespread support 1.
Majority Whip John Barrasso called the morning session a productive discussion 2. Thune said Monday that the decision on timing belongs to Republican senators 1.
On the Democratic side, members who could hold as many as 56 seats next year are privately debating whether Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York should keep leading them 1. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who runs the party's Senate campaign arm, predicted Schumer will win enough support 1.
What happens next
Senators are due back at 2 p.m. to vote on whether to delay the elections 2. If they go ahead, Thune is expected to be reelected 1.
Republicans also plan to confirm as many of President Trump's nominees as they can before the new Congress begins Jan. 3 3. They are also trying to finish work on government funding 1.
That matters because the senators asking for a plan are Republicans, not Democrats. Their party's own members are questioning the direction of the last two years, and the leader who would carry it forward has not yet told them what changes.
The Record
- Midterm elections cost Senate Republicans at least seven seats and their majority 1.
- Thune said the decision on timing is 'ultimately' one for Republican senators to make 1.
- Senate Republicans recessed after about two hours and planned to return at 2 p.m. to vote on whether to delay leadership elections 2.
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Sources
- PBS NewsHour / AP, “WATCH LIVE: Senate considers bills on permitting, survivor justice as GOP mulls future leadership” (2026-11-10). pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-senate-considers-bills-
- CBS News, “Live Updates: House and Senate Republicans hold leadership elections” (2026-11-10). cbsnews.com/live-updates/congress-today-senate-house-leaders
- ABC News / AP, “John Thune seeks another term as Senate Republican leader as the party reckons with election losses” (2026-11-10). abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/john-thune-seeks-term-senate-
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
More from the files
Sen. Ron Johnson gets five signatures to force talks on delaying Senate GOP leader vote
Johnson, a close Trump ally, says he has enough Republican signatures to call a full party meeting on postponing Tuesday's leadership election. The move shows how bitter the fight over who leads the GOP has become after the midterm losses.
Hawley called Medicaid cuts 'politically suicidal,' voted for them, now faults Congress
In May 2025, Sen. Josh Hawley warned Republicans that cutting Medicaid would be wrong and would cost them politically. Seven weeks later he voted for the law that made the cuts. After the GOP lost the Senate last week, he says Congress should 'take responsibility for what Congress did.'
Senate conservatives press to delay Thune's leader vote, demand lame-duck agenda
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