Pressure builds on Thune ahead of GOP leadership elections
· Axios
Seven Republican senators now are calling for their leadership elections to be delayed — with one even promising to walk out rather than vote Tuesday.
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Why it matters: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is still expected to be reelected to lead the Senate GOP tomorrow. But the growing push to delay is a sign of troubles ahead.
Driving the news: Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) all signed a letter demanding that the leadership elections be delayed to allow for more discussion about what went wrong for the party last week.
- Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) backed them up in statements posted on X.
- Johnson threatened to skip the vote if the delay doesn't happen.
Between the lines: The decision technically falls to conference chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) — though it's usually made with leadership buy-in.
- The election is expected to be held as planned Tuesday morning unless a senator motions to delay and it passes with a majority — which seems unlikely with the number of public supporters, according to a source familiar with the planning discussions.
- Despite the arguments that Thune should not get to lock in his leadership so quickly, no one has thrown their hat in the ring to challenge him.
The bottom line: At this point, none of the leadership elections are competitive.
- Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Policy Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Conference Vice Chair James Lankford (R-Okla.) are expected to keep their spots as Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 atop the conference. Moreno is the sole candidate for NRSC chair.