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Johnson Leads Push to Delay Senate GOP Leadership Vote After Midterm Losses

Johnson Leads Push to Delay Senate GOP Leadership Vote After Midterm Losses Sen. Ron Johnson wants Senate Republicans to slow down. On Monday, the Wisconsin Republican sent a letter to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton of Arkansas. The letter asks the conference to meet and talk through last week’s midterm results before electing leaders…

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Johnson Leads Push to Delay Senate GOP Leadership Vote After Midterm Losses

Sen. Ron Johnson wants Senate Republicans to slow down.

On Monday, the Wisconsin Republican sent a letter to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton of Arkansas. The letter asks the conference to meet and talk through last week’s midterm results before electing leaders for the next Congress. Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in that election. The leadership vote is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, behind closed doors in the Old Senate Chamber.

The letter calls the midterm result “a stunning defeat.” It argues that electing leaders without first hearing how the candidates plan to lead “would be political malpractice.”

Five senators signed it: Johnson, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and John Kennedy of Louisiana. That meets the threshold under Senate Republican Conference rules, which let five members force a special conference meeting through a written request. Sens. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Jim Banks of Indiana have also said they support a delay, though neither signed the letter.

The letter does not cancel Tuesday’s vote. The conference itself decides whether to change the schedule.

Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota plans to run for minority leader in the new Congress. No senator has publicly announced a challenge, and Thune is widely expected to keep the post. The signers have not openly opposed him either. Their stated aim is a postmortem first and ballots second.

Johnson has tried this before. After the 2022 midterms, Senate Republicans rejected a similar push to postpone their leadership elections.

In an interview with CBS News, Johnson said leadership elections have historically come about 40 days after a general election. The Swansen Report has not independently verified that figure.

The Swansen Report will update this story after Tuesday’s conference meeting.

Sources

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