Thune and Schumer face questions about Senate leadership in aftermath of
elections
[November 10, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 as leader in votes scheduled for
Tuesday. Across the aisle, Democrats who could hold as many as 56 seats
next year are having private discussions about 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 — the Republicans this
week, and Democrats likely in December. But 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.
The soul-searching comes as lawmakers are trying to wrap up the year’s
work — funding the government and seeing if there are some issues they
can work together on, including national security money and energy
permitting. Republicans will try to confirm as many of President Donald
Trump’s nominees as they can before the new Congress begins Jan. 3, and
Democrats will strategize on how to best keep up their momentum into
next year.
“The American people are not looking for socialist government and
leftist fantasies,” Thune said on the Senate floor Monday, reflecting on
his party’s “tough night” last week and how Republicans will handle
minority rule in the Senate. “We will oppose any attempt to balloon the
size of government or tear down American institutions.”
Schumer said Democrats will prioritize affordability issues and “spend
every second of every day striving to prove ourselves worthy of
Americans' trust.”
Some Republican senators push for delay in leadership elections
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. Trump called him “a very fine man" on Monday, but said his
reelection as leader “is up to the Senate.”
Still, some in his conference say Tuesday’s election is too soon and a
lengthy conversation about the future is necessary.
A small group of senators has publicly called on GOP leadership to delay
Tuesday’s election. Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick in a statement over
the weekend said Republicans shouldn’t 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 of those races
have yet been called, and it’s unclear if Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan
of Alaska and Cindy Hyde Smith of Mississippi will be returning next
year.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, poses for a
photograph in his office with Sen.-elects Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich.,
Josh Turek, D-Iowa, Roy Cooper, D-N.C., Juliana Stratton, D-Ill.,
and Chris Pappas, D-N.H., Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, at the U.S. Capitol
in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Thune made clear Monday that leadership is moving ahead with the
election, but senators could seek a vote to delay at the Tuesday
morning meeting.
He said the conference will 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.
Thune has at times been at odds with Trump, and some in the
Republican base have criticized Thune for the chamber’s failure to
pass voting legislation that would require proof of citizenship for
all voters.
Schumer faces critics on all sides, but still has support
Schumer has found critics on the left and the right as candidates
from both sides of the party declined to say on the campaign trail
whether they would support him as leader. Many in the party have
said it’s time for generational change after Schumer’s 12 years
leading the Senate Democratic caucus.
Still, Schumer appears to have widespread support from his members
after carrying his party to massive wins in Tuesday’s elections.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Schumer’s New York colleague and the head
of the Democratic Senate campaign arm this cycle, said he not only
won the Senate back but he “cares deeply, and he understands
politics well.”
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is considering a challenge to
Schumer, according to a person familiar with his thinking, and he is
open to a run. But it is unclear how much support he would have.
Leadership elections are done via secret ballot and it requires only
a majority to win.
Visiting the Capitol for the first time Monday, Democratic senators
who will be sworn in next January were split on how they will vote.
Incoming senators vote in party elections, even though they 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,” El-Sayed
said.
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’s 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,” she said.
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