by Ben Whedon
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., on Monday joined a group of Republicans calling to delay the Senate Republican leadership contest in the wake of a devastating midterm loss.
Banks issued a statement on X, saying, “We need to elect Republican leadership in the Senate, but tomorrow is too soon.”
“Our conference needs to sit down and have a rank conversation about where we fell short, what we stand for, and what we’re going to do for the working families who sent us here,” he added.
Banks’s statement makes him the seventh lawmaker to do so, after GOP Sens. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, John Kennedy of Louisiana, and Ted Budd of North Carolina.
On top of this, Conservative Political Action Conference called on Senate Republicans to delay the vote.
“Less than a week ago, voters delivered a referendum on Senate leadership, and Republicans lost the Senate majority. The Republican Senate’s failure to have a real debate on the SAVE America Act was a historic error. Rushing a leadership vote within a week of that verdict is not deliberation; it is a forced outcome. The conference should be regrouping and taking stock, not expediting a vote that guarantees the status quo. Rubber-stamping the same leadership team before the dust has settled, before every race is called, and before a single hard conversation has been had sends exactly the wrong message about whether Republicans heard what the country just said,” the conference said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has faced considerable flak from the White House and conservative base over his failure to pass the SAVE America Act, a marquis voter ID bill that was a top priority for Republicans.
Several of his senior supporters, including Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, moreover, lost their reelection bids, potentially weakening Thune’s grip on the conference.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “John Thune” by John Thune.
