Republicans in the U.S. Senate are seeking to delay a vote on their party’s leadership following the 2026 midterms heading into the 2027-29 Congress.
A small group led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, wants to delay the leadership elections to debrief after last week’s stunning losses and chart a path forward heading into the minority.
Senate Democrats flipped the chamber by clinching 54 seats, and that number could grow depending on the outcomes in Mississippi and Alaska.
Johnson, in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital to Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, the conference chair for the Senate GOP, argued the election should be delayed until they all have a chance to hear from Republican leadership candidates and where they plan to take the party in Congress going forward.
"Tuesday's result was a stunning defeat, and there are multiple reasons for it," Johnson wrote. "We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to what we can do to improve the outcome in 2028."
"Holding leadership elections without engaging in a robust discussion and evaluation of how those running for leadership intend to lead would be political malpractice," he continued. "It is certainly not the way leadership elections should be conducted in the world's greatest deliberative body."
