Photo: Beethoven / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has collected the five signatures needed to ask Senate Republicans to delay their leadership elections, which are scheduled for Tuesday morning. Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Ted Budd of North Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah signed the letter. Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania did not sign but supports a delay. It is a request. The vote has not been postponed, and the elections remain on the schedule.
The photograph shows the U.S. Capitol’s East Front with the Senate wing. It is an archival photo, not related to the letter.
Johnson’s letter to Conference Chair Tom Cotton of Arkansas asks for a conference meeting and for the elections to be delayed “until we all have a chance to hear from leadership candidates as to what type of collaborative conference governing model we should adopt and what our strategy will be to counter the emboldened Democrats.” The letter calls last week’s election result “a stunning defeat” and says holding the elections without a “robust discussion and evaluation” would be “political malpractice.”
McCormick said in a statement that he does not believe the conference should move to leadership elections “until we have digested and debated the lessons of the midterms and how to move forward.” He added: “We need leadership in place fast, but Tuesday is too soon.” Lee wrote last week that the conference should first discuss what happened and learn who will be in it. Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana, who did not sign, said the conference needs “a frank discussion about where we fell short.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota is expected to seek another term as the top Republican and, as of now, faces no challenger. Sen. Rick Scott has said he does not plan to run against him. A GOP aide said Republican leaders had already planned a meeting before the elections. Under the conference’s rules, a delay can be considered once five senators sign a letter.
Senate conservatives tried to postpone leadership elections after the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election and did not win a majority. The conference is set to meet Tuesday morning, where Johnson, McCormick and Lee can make the case; if they do not win enough support, senators will vote on the leadership team later that morning.
Why it matters: the vote will set who leads Senate Republicans as they head into the minority after last week’s elections. Still unknown: whether a majority of the conference will agree to a delay, whether any challenger to Thune will emerge, and how the Tuesday meeting will go. This report will be updated after the conference meets.
JBizNews Desk | Washington, D.C.
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