Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) was among the first to tell Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to chill on this rapid push to elect him Senate Republicans’ leader next session. The nerve on this guy: he fumbled constantly on funding DHS, didn’t want to pass the Save America Act, and, even worse, didn’t want to nuke the legislative filibuster, which will now be erased by a rabid left-wing Democrat majority, where a parade of horrors awaits. Now, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) is supporting delaying the leadership elections (via Axios):

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) is calling for a delay in Tuesday's Senate GOP leadership elections, injecting another note of uncertainty into what had been a largely foregone conclusion before Republicans' devastating midterm defeat.

Why it matters: McCormick isn't demanding that Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) step down. But he is asking his colleagues to pump the brakes on Tuesday's internal elections.

McCormick joins Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in urging Republicans to postpone the leadership elections.

No one has officially announced a challenge to Thune, who's led the GOP conference since January 2025. But there is clearly growing unease over the conference's plans to move quickly to leadership elections.

Tuesday's elections are still scheduled to proceed, according to a person familiar with the matter

Thune was part of the debacle that wiped us off the Hill. Mike Johnson knew the deal in the House. He won’t be running for minority leader. That’s an honorable exit. Johnson passed legislation with slimmer majorities. If Renee Good hadn’t been killed in Minneapolis last winter, the story would’ve been that Democrats backed a DHS appropriations bill that increased funding for ICE. Johnson also passed 11 other spending bills: all of government was funded. 

The late Lindsey Graham established the roadmap to ending the DHS stalemate.