Thune will lead Republicans through the minority

Savannah Behrmann, CQ-Roll Call on Nov 10, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader John Thune was reelected as the Republican leader on Tuesday and will steer the conference through their time in the minority.

The South Dakotan ran uncontested despite a push from some in his conference to delay the leadership elections following Republicans’ stunning defeats last week in the midterms, which saw them lose at least seven seats and the majority.

While he and the rest of the leadership slate sailed through by voice vote, the election wasn’t without drama.

Before the leadership contests began in the Old Supreme Court Chamber early Tuesday morning, the conference held a meeting at the request of a group of GOP five senators, led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

The conversation, which several senators described as “frank,” ended up pushing back the leadership elections by a few hours. But they were not postponed to another day as some had hoped.

“This has never been anything against John Thune,” said Johnson, as he made good on his commitment to leave the room early if the conference proceeded to electing a leader Tuesday. “What I didn’t agree with was holding the election right away, giving nobody an opportunity to really challenge any leadership position.”

“Part of the issue here is who wants the job? God bless him for serving,” Johnson added.

The conference conversation Tuesday morning turned into an “open-mic” with both conservatives and those who lost their elections speaking, according to senators.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who told reporters he wanted to delay the leadership contests, said, “To rush into this and to just ratify all the same leadership — I mean, what message does that send?”

But no contender to Thune emerged despite the angst, and a motion to proceed to the election, introduced by Thune’s fellow South Dakotan Sen. Mike Rounds, was accepted.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said voters who rejected Republicans last week were reacting to high gas prices, the war in Iran and the cost of living, not to how Senate leaders were running the conference.

“I don’t think anybody in Texas who voted for the Democrat governor was voting against John Thune. If you diagnose that as a problem, you’re misdiagnosing the problem,” Paul said.

Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., was reelected to his position, as was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma was again selected as vice chair of the conference, while Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia was reelected as Republican Policy Committee chair.

Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio got the nod to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee, meaning he will helm the campaign arm as the party looks ahead to the uncertain waters of 2028.

Moreno said, “I was in the retail automobile business, so when you don’t listen to your customers, your customers punish you. I think we have to own it, and I think we have to learn from it.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Monday evening, “What we as a conference right now need is honesty. We need focus. We need to try to reach a consensus on what we need to change.”

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who ran for GOP leader twice — once in 2022 against Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and in 2024 against Thune — declined to run again to challenge Thune. But in a Dear Colleague letter on Monday, he detailed what he’d like to see in the lame-duck session before Democrats take power, including confirming every nominee President Donald Trump has sent to the Senate, funding the government without an omnibus, banning stock trading, passing the permitting bill that is advancing this week in the Senate, passing the National Defense Authorization Act, balancing the budget and pushing through a sweeping voter ID bill known as the SAVE America Act.

That long list of goals highlights the expectations Thune has faced as leader, where he led one-third of Republicans’ trifecta in Washington. In the next Congress, Democrats will hold the majority in both chambers of Congress after their larger-than-expected wins, while Trump finishes out his term as president.

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