Senate Republicans come back to Washington today with eight weeks of majority left and a fight over who should lead them through it. I think the senators asking to slow down have a point.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is expected to deliver a letter today to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton with the five signatures needed to force a special meeting of the conference, Semafor reported this morning. Leadership elections are still scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, and Majority Leader John Thune is the only declared candidate for leader.
🚨 BREAKING: Sen. Ron Johnson says he will WALK OUT if Senate Republicans rush leadership elections tomorrow. He called it "obnoxious" after midterm losses. He is 100% right. We need accountability BEFORE handing out promotions. Delay the vote and fix the party! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/whDe13QP7u
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) November 10, 2026
In the letter, first obtained by the Washington Examiner, Johnson called it “political malpractice” to hold the closed-door elections so soon after a “stunning defeat.” Democrats flipped at least seven Republican Senate seats on Nov. 3.
Who wants to wait, and why
The list of senators asking for the pause has grown through the weekend. The Washington Times reported that Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, John Kennedy of Louisiana and Mike Lee of Utah support a delay. On Sunday evening, Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania joined them.
“A week ago, we had the worst election results in decades. We need a discussion about what went wrong, how we fix it, what we stand for, and how our agenda must focus on the concerns of the American people,” McCormick wrote on X, according to Axios. “We need leadership in place fast, but Tuesday is too soon.”
Lee agreed. “Turning to leadership elections Tuesday morning would put the cart before the horse,” he posted Sunday night.
Scott framed it as a business decision. “Good companies make a plan for success and then hire the best person to get it done, not the other way around,” he wrote. He has also set a condition for anyone seeking a leadership job. “Every candidate for a leadership job must commit to passing” the SAVE America Act, the voter citizenship and ID bill that stalled this year, he posted Sunday. “Failure is not an option.”
None of them is calling for Thune’s head. Axios reported that McCormick is not demanding Thune step down, and Semafor reported the letter itself will not block Thune’s election, though it will force a debate and possibly a vote on a delay.
The clock that matters
President Trump has stayed out of the leadership question. “It’s gonna be up to the Republicans. They choose. I don’t choose,” he told reporters Friday. He has, though, blamed the Senate in part for the losses. “One thing was not getting things approved in the Senate,” he said.
The larger fight is over what happens before Jan. 3. “The most important thing for the Senate to do is to stay in session EVERY DAY until the Democrats take over. Every judge and nominee confirmed, every priority done,” Scott wrote Saturday. “NO DAYS OFF!” Lee wants the SAVE America Act on the floor, with filibustering senators required to keep speaking.
The bottom line
Republicans did not lose seven seats because voters were confused. They lost because too many people felt the party did not deliver on costs or on election integrity. Holding a quick vote and moving on would tell those voters nothing was learned.
A pause of a week or two would be a reasonable step toward accountability. Senate Republicans should use it to agree on a lame-duck plan: confirm every qualified judge they can, put the SAVE America Act to a real floor fight, and pass what they can before the gavel changes hands. Then they can pick the leaders to carry it out.