Senate Republicans set leadership vote as Democrats weigh Schumer's future

Thune expected to win Tuesday’s secret ballot despite calls for delay

Senators from both parties returned to Washington on Monday with questions about the future of their leadership after last week’s election decisively gave Democrats a significant new majority. Republicans, who are losing around a quarter of their conference to election losses and retirements, are debating whether to immediately reelect South Dakota Sen. John Thune in votes scheduled for Tuesday. Across the aisle, Democrats, who could hold as many as 56 seats next year, are privately discussing whether New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is still the right person to lead them, even as he carried the party to historic wins.

Both men are expected to easily win the backing of a majority of their members in closed-door, secret-ballot elections — Republicans this week and Democrats likely in December. The internal discussions on both sides could prove consequential to their parties’ effectiveness in the next Congress and how voters perceive them leading into the 2028 presidential election.

Thune, who replaced Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as leader two years ago, has broad support among Senate Republicans and is expected to win reelection. President Donald Trump called him “a very fine man” on Monday but said his reelection as leader “is up to the Senate.”

Some Republicans say Tuesday’s election is too soon and a lengthy conversation about the future is necessary. A small group has publicly called on Republican leaders to delay the vote. Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick said in a statement over the weekend that Republicans should not choose a leader until the lessons of the election have been “digested and debated.”

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, one of several senators who signed a letter from Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson asking for a delay, said any leadership contest should come after the two outstanding Senate elections in Alaska and Mississippi are decided. Neither race has been called, and it is unclear whether Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Cindy Hyde Smith of Mississippi will return next year.

Thune made clear Monday that the leadership election is moving ahead, but senators could seek a vote to delay it at the Tuesday morning meeting. He said the conference would have a “very fulsome, robust conversation about where we go from here and then we’ll see what the consensus of the conference is.” “Ultimately that’s a decision made by Republican senators,” Thune said.

On the Senate floor Monday, Thune said, “The American people are not looking for socialist government and leftist fantasies,” reflecting on his party’s “tough night” last week and on how Republicans will operate as the Senate minority. He added: “We will oppose any attempt to balloon the size of government or tear down American institutions.”

Thune has at times been at odds with Trump, and some in the Republican base have criticized him for the chamber’s failure to pass voting legislation that would require proof of citizenship for all voters.

Schumer, who has led the Senate Democratic caucus for 12 years, faces critics on both the left and the right. Candidates from both sides of the party declined to say on the campaign trail whether they would support him as leader, and many in the party have said it is time for generational change. Still, Schumer appears to have widespread support from his members after carrying the party to historic wins in last week’s elections.

Kirsten Gillibrand, Schumer’s New York colleague and the head of the Democratic Senate campaign arm this cycle, said he had not only won the Senate back but also that he “cares deeply, and he understands politics well.”

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is considering a challenge to Schumer’s leadership, according to a person familiar with his thinking, and he is open to a run. It is unclear how much support he would have. Leadership elections are conducted by secret ballot and require only a majority to win.

Democratic senators who will be sworn in next January, visiting the Capitol for the first time Monday, were split on how they will vote. Incoming senators vote in party elections even though those elections are held before they are seated. Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan said he will support Van Hollen, whom he endorsed during his campaign: “I think he’d do a great job.”

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who beat Republican Sen. Jon Husted to return to the chamber, said he is supporting Schumer but declined to elaborate. Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan of Michigan said she is not ready to make any commitments: “I think it’s a moment where there are a lot of new voices, and making sure those voices are incorporated into the future of the Senate is really important.”

Schumer said Democrats will prioritize affordability issues and “spend every second of every day striving to prove ourselves worthy of Americans’ trust.”

Lawmakers are also trying to wrap up the year’s work, including funding the government and pursuing areas where the parties might work together, such as national security money and energy permitting. Republicans will try to confirm as many of Trump’s nominees as they can before the new Congress begins Jan. 3, while Democrats strategize on how to sustain their momentum into next year.