Senate Republicans Re-Elect Full Leadership Team, With Thune Continuing as Leader Into Minority

Senate Republicans on Tuesday re-elected their entire leadership slate for the 120th Congress during a closed-door conference meeting in the Old Senate Chamber, keeping Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as conference leader. The vote occurred by acclamation after hours of discussion, following an unsuccessful effort by a group of members to delay the elections in the wake of last week’s midterm losses that will place Republicans in the minority next year.

Thune, who has served as majority leader since the start of the current Congress after succeeding Sen. Mitch McConnell, ran unopposed. No alternative candidate emerged. The conference also retained Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming as whip, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas as conference chair, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia as policy committee chair, and Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma as conference vice chair. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio was selected to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee, succeeding Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

A motion to postpone the leadership votes failed on a 31-15 tally. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who had collected signatures from colleagues including Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Budd of North Carolina, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Jim Banks of Indiana, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, sought the delay to allow further discussion of the election results and the party’s direction. Johnson left the meeting after the motion was defeated. The conference held multiple sessions during the day, during which members addressed the loss of at least seven Republican-held seats in states including Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. Races in Alaska and Mississippi remained uncalled as of Tuesday evening.

Thune issued a statement after the vote: “I appreciated the opportunity to have an open, honest, and transparent conversation with my colleagues today, and I am honored to have their continued trust and support to lead the Senate Republican Conference in the 120th Congress.” He will continue as majority leader through the remainder of the 119th Congress and assume the minority leader role when the new Congress convenes in January. Republicans are expected to hold no more than 46 seats, depending on the final outcomes of the remaining contests.

Prior to the midterms, Thune had led the conference through passage of a major tax, border, and defense package, confirmation of administration nominees, and other measures. The lame-duck period remaining in the current Congress includes a December 11 funding deadline and the opportunity to advance additional nominations before Democrats take the majority. Some members had pressed for action on defense funding and other priorities during the remaining weeks of Republican control.

The leadership continuity comes as Republicans prepare to operate as the minority party for the first time since the start of the 119th Congress. Thune previously defeated challenges from Sens. Rick Scott and John Cornyn in the 2024 leadership race that installed him as majority leader. No public challenges to the current team materialized for the 120th Congress positions.