A week after huge election losses, Republicans to choose their leaders in Congress

One ​week after the massive election defeat that repudiated their fealty to President Donald ​Trump, Republicans in the US Congress were set on Tuesday ‌to ​decide who will lead their party next year when Democrats take over the Senate and House of Representatives. Senate Majority Leader John Thune appeared to face no challengers to his bid to become minority leader in January. But a group of ‌hardline Republican senators pressed for a delay in party leadership elections during what participants called a "frank" two-hour post-mortem session on the election defeat. Lawmakers said a delay of days or weeks could give a challenger time to campaign for the post.

"We've got a lot of things that we've got to think through, and to rush into this and ‌just ratify all the same leadership, I mean, what message does that send? It doesn't say that we're going to change course," Republican Senator Josh Hawley ‌after exiting the meeting. Senate Republicans were due to reconvene on Tuesday afternoon to decide whether to delay elections or press on with the internal vote.

Across Capitol Hill, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan were locked in a tight race for minority leader, after House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled that he had no interest in remaining at the Republican helm and Trump said he would ⁠not get ​involved. Johnson, who presided over a fractious Republican ⁠majority that sometimes derailed its own legislation, predicted "chaos" in the House with Democrats in charge.

"I'm sorry that voters made the wrong choice," the Louisiana Republican said. "If we had kept the majority, we would stay ⁠on course." The House and Senate leadership elections, which will be settled by respective secret ballots in the US Capitol, will determine what role Republicans intend to play as the minority party in Congress ​during the final two years of Trump's presidency.

Democrats won at least 54 of the Senate's 100 seats and at least 252 of the House's 435 ⁠seats, giving them substantial majorities to pursue legislation on priority issues in the run-up to the 2028 presidential election. “The first thing you've got to do to get better is admit you're doing something wrong,” said Republican ⁠Senator ​Jim Justice of West Virginia. “Will we ever, as Republicans, be able to really feel and see what's going on with the people? I think we can get that done. But we've got to start thinking that way.”

Democrats will need Republican support to move major initiatives in the Senate, where the filibuster rule requires 60 votes ⁠for most legislation. Their majorities in both chambers also fall well short of the two-thirds votes needed to override presidential vetoes. After the election, Thune vowed that Republicans ⁠would work with Trump to block "Democrat extremism" and ⁠work against any attempt by Democrats to unwind Republican achievements including border security and judicial appointments.

But the South Dakota Republican, known for his mild manner and consensus-building leadership style, has come under fire from Trump's MAGA supporters, who blame him for not ‌pursuing Trump policies more aggressively ‌ahead of the election, including sweeping federal election restrictions sought by the president.