WASHINGTON — South Dakota Sen. John Thune will remain Republican leader next Congress despite the GOP’s loss of the chamber’s majority in this year’s midterm elections.

GOP senators voted behind closed doors Tuesday to keep Thune at the helm and reelected Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso as their whip. Neither was challenged. 

The other members of Senate Republican leadership will include Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Republican Policy Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Vice Chair of the Republican Conference James Lankford of Oklahoma and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Bernie Moreno of Ohio. 

‘Listening intently’

Thune said after the meeting that he and other Republicans were not happy with the results of the midterm elections but will focus more on voters’ concerns in the years ahead. 

“As we move forward, we are going to be listening intently to what the American people are saying,” he said. “And I think right now the issue that matters the most to them, like I said, is the cost of living.”

Thune pledged to extend the lame duck session that spans November and December to give Republicans more time to confirm nominees and approve legislation before handing over power to Democrats in early January. Republicans now hold 53 seats and The Associated Press projects they will have 44 next year, with results in Alaska and Mississippi still not called.

“Our conference is committed to being here to do whatever it takes to get as much done as we can,” he said. “That means extending the calendar here, the number of days we’re here, the number of hours we’re here, the number of votes we may end up taking. But we are going to finish this legislative session strong.”

Push for nominations

There was an attempt by several Republican senators to delay decisions about leadership for at least a week, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. 

Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt said after the meeting that Republican leaders had committed to clear as many nominees through the chamber as possible. Democrats are unlikely to approve President Donald Trump’s picks for the federal bench or administration roles after January. 

“We’re definitely going to maximize the next 54 days for sure,” he said. 

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said ahead of the vote that he wanted to delay until later this year to give Republicans an opportunity to “change course” following the election results. 

“It’s easy to blame other people, but we need to look at what has happened here,” he said, questioning why Republican leaders didn’t put bills on the floor to lower the cost of gasoline and healthcare. 

“If you don’t put people first, sooner or later people turn on you,” Hawley said. “And I think that this party thought we can just do whatever we want. People voted for us in ’24, we’ll do whatever we want. No you can’t. You’ve got to do stuff that actually helps people.”

‘Never disappoint voters again’

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said following a morning conference meeting that Republicans were “voicing opinions on all sides of the issues.” 

“It’s one of those times in the Republican Conference, you kind of go, ‘We got … some smart people, and we’re having a very good respectful conversation,’” Johnson said. 

Ohio’s Moreno said later in the day that Republicans are committed to “never disappoint voters again.”

“We’re firmly aware of the consequences now, and that’s the strategy we’re going to employ in 2028,” he said. 

60 votes needed

Thune will still have considerable power as minority leader as long as Democrats keep a rule that requires 60 senators vote to advance legislation. 

The hurdle forces bipartisanship on major proposals. But even if Democrats were to remove it next Congress, bills would still need Trump’s support to become law, unless there are supermajorities in each chamber to override a veto.

Senate Republicans chose Sen. Julian Bradley (R-New Berlin) as minority leader Thursday. He will take office when lawmakers return in January.

Bradley succeeds Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), who decided against running for reelection. He will lead a caucus of just 15 Republicans after Democrats swept the election on Tuesday night. Democrats added three seats to their caucus, winning a total of 18 seats to take the  Senate majority for the first time since the 2008-09 legislative session. 

Bradley said in a statement that the election results had “changed the math in the Senate, but they didn’t change what we believe or who we work for.” 

Three Republicans were reportedly running for the position, according to WisPolitics. They were  Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk), who had served as Senate president, Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point), who led Senate Republicans’ election efforts and had served as president pro tempore, and Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Gillett).

Bradley was not one of the names reported in WisPolitics ahead of the caucus meeting, but he emerged as the chosen leader. He has served in the state Senate since 2020 and is the first Black Republican to serve in the Wisconsin Senate. 

“Wisconsin families still want safe communities, good jobs and a government that lives within its means. We’re going to keep fighting for those goals and our state,” Bradley said. “I’m grateful to my colleagues for the trust they’ve placed in me. Leading this caucus is a responsibility I don’t take lightly.” 

Bradley said the caucus will be focused on “protecting taxpayers and expanding opportunity for every Wisconsinite” in the new session. During his time in office, he has served on the Joint Finance Committee, as the vice chair of the administrative rules committee and as the chair of the utilities, technology and tourism committee. 

Sen.-elect Erik Severson, a Republican from Osceola, said in a statement that Senate Republicans needed a “new path forward” following the election results.

“While I respect the work of the previous leadership team, we need a fresh approach to how
things are being done in Madison as we move forward together in a drastically reshaped
political climate,” Severson said. “While the leadership team may have changed, our focus on
common-sense policies that put taxpayers ahead of liberal special interests will not change.”

Bradley, 45, was born in Baltimore before moving to Wisconsin in 1992. He was previously a professional wrestler and a realtor and operations manager for Northwestern Mutual and CenturyLink.

Sen. Romaine Quinn (R-Birchwood) was chosen to be the assistant minority leader.

A leading Democratic campaign committee is projecting confidence in U.S. Senate toss-up races four weeks before Election Day, though it has yet to commit resources to the reddest states that have recently entered the Senate map.

Senate Majority PAC, which is run by allies of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, has bought ad time, or has commitments to do so, in nine states, Lauren French, the group’s chief spokesperson told reporters Tuesday. 

Those states — Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas — show Democrats are competing this cycle in typically Republican places. Elections analysts generally say those states are toss-ups or lean Democratic.

The Democratic super PAC’s slate, though, is not as expansive as some of the latest public polls and forecaster ratings show could be in play.

The group is “watching really closely” the races in GOP strongholds of Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi and Kansas, French said. 

At least one of those states, Kansas, could be in play for the first time in decades, according to elections forecaster The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, which moved it into the toss-up category Tuesday.

“Broadly, we are very pleased with the state of the race right now,” French said. “We are invested in nine battleground states and are looking very closely at some of the expansion states that are coming (into) play as we get four weeks from the election and the environment continues to be increasingly rough for Republicans.”

An expanded Senate map is available to Democrats because of President Donald Trump’s unpopularity, especially tied to the Iran war and related high gas prices, French said. Trump’s approval rating is lower than his disapproval rating “in every battleground state,” she added.

North Carolina moves

Opportunities for Republicans appear to be shrinking, with North Carolina moving further toward Democrats. 

Cook shifted the race from lean Democrat to likely Democrat on Tuesday, after the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, said last week it was freezing future spending in the state.

French said the Senate Majority PAC also canceled its television and digital spending this week in the race for the seat left open by retiring Republican Thom Tillis. The group has not made decisions on spending in the Tar Heel State beyond this week, she said.

Republicans hold cash edge

While the national political environment favors Democrats, the GOP and its fellow campaign groups maintain a massive cash advantage against Democrats.

Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., held more than $400 million at the end of August, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. Senate Majority PAC showed around $57 million on hand in the same report.

Fundraising numbers for official party committees also significantly favor Republicans. 

The Republican National Committee and the party’s campaign groups supporting House and Senate candidates outraised their Democratic counterparts by about $100 million through Aug. 31, according to an analysis by nonpartisan elections analyst Ballopedia. 

Republicans have largely aimed to portray Democrats as too far to the left to capably manage Congress.

“Voters have a clear choice this November between Republicans who will fight for them and radical, socialist Democrats who would serve as rubber stamps for Chuck Schumer’s Washington machine,” Bernadette Breslin, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement.

Rare pickup opportunities

Still, the Senate Majority PAC’s bullish sentiment broadly matches expert opinion, as forecasters continue to see a strong case for Democrats to pick up Senate seats. Republicans now control the Senate with 53 seats.

The elections handicapper Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved two Senate races in Democrats’ direction Tuesday. 

The group labeled Alaska as leaning toward Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola in her challenge to incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan, and shifted U.S. Sen. Darline Graham’s race in South Carolina from safe Republican to likely Republican. Graham was appointed to the seat when her late brother died, won a Republican primary election and is now seeking a six-year term.

Overall, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which operates at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, rates 49 seats, including those of incumbents not on the ballot this year, as at least leaning toward the Democrat, with four seen as toss-ups. 

Democrats, who now hold 47 seats, would need to net 51 seats to win a majority because Vice President JD Vance casts tie-breaking votes.

A flip in control of the chamber would significantly slow Trump’s nominees to the federal bench and executive branch posts. 

WASHINGTON — Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee used a hearing Wednesday to continue voicing opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, which the top Democrat on the panel called a distraction from cost-of-living issues voters are more concerned about.

Republicans, vying to defend their majority in the House and Senate in the midterm elections less than six weeks away, have pursued a broad anti-trans agenda alongside President Donald Trump’s administration. Republicans on  Wednesday framed the issue as protecting women’s sports. 

“Biological women should not be asked to accommodate men who, for reasons of identity or otherwise, choose to compete in (the) women’s category instead of (the) men’s or co-ed category,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Judiciary panel. 

“Women were last to get the vote, to participate in professions, to serve on juries, get credit cards in their own names and so much more,” the Iowa Republican said. “Women should not again be asked to cede their opportunities just to make men comfortable.” 

The GOP-led panel brought in advocates, who spoke out against transgender athletes’ participation in sports that align with their gender identity. 

Dems absent

Democrats on the panel largely sat the hearing out, drawing the ire of GOP members.

In the only statement by a Democrat during the hearing, the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Dick Durbin, used his opening remarks to question his GOP counterparts’ priorities amid Americans’ affordability concerns. 

“If you ask the American people, ‘What are the priority issues you hope Congress will address as soon as possible?’ the issue of this hearing would not be in the top 10, maybe not the top 20,” the Illinois Democrat said. 

“People are concerned about the cost of living, they’re concerned about the ability to pay for the college education of their kids, they’re concerned about their utility bills, they’re concerned about their grocery bills — they want to know what we’re doing about it,” he added. 

Republicans on the panel noted Democrats’ absence.

“Not one member on the other side of the aisle has had the respect for women to come in here and ask questions, to figure out how we get this right, how we stand up for fairness, for safety, for an opportunity for young women across the country,” GOP Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama said at the hearing. “It’s absolutely absurd.”

But Durbin pointed to a similar 2024 hearing that saw NCAA President Charlie Baker tell senators that of the more than half-million total athletes in NCAA schools, he knew of fewer than 10 who were transgender. 

“We can all agree that we want to be fair and safe in women’s athletics, but this vendetta against a small number of people in the trans community affects everyone, including cisgender girls who can be subject to inappropriate gender verification checks,” Durbin said. 

At a press conference after the hearing, GOP Sens. Ashley Moody of Florida, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Darline Graham of South Carolina and Britt, along with several athletes and advocates, continued to blast the inclusion of trans athletes on women’s sports teams. 

“It shouldn’t be complicated,” Moody said. “Men do not belong in women’s sports. Women’s sports exist for a reason, and if we’re going to have women’s sports, we must protect women’s sports.”

Hot topic

The issue has been the subject of intense debate in recent years.

The House passed a bill in January 2025 that would bar trans students’ participation in women’s school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. 

But Senate Democrats blocked an effort in March of that year aimed at imposing such a ban and codifying Trump’s 2025 executive order on the issue. 

The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld state laws banning transgender athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.

The court’s decision — which has no impact on states without such bans — marked a major setback for transgender rights across the nation. 

Meanwhile, a major bipartisan bill to regulate college athletes’ compensation and establish additional protections for women’s and Olympic sports continues to advance in the Senate.

Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Republicans have made clear that the bill would not preempt state laws regarding the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.

Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee voted Wednesday to advance a farm bill, though Democrats on the committee voted against the package due to continued disagreements on a nutrition section of the bill. 

The committee marked up the bill in August, then recessed after a failed vote as Democrats held out over their proposal for an extension of when some states will have to begin paying for a share of federal nutrition benefits. Republican leadership amended the bill before the August hearing to offer a one-year extension, but Democrats continued to argue for a two-year extension. 

While Republicans hold the majority in the committee, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s more than 90-day public hiatus due to a health issue meant the body didn’t have enough votes to pass the farm bill from the committee in August. 

McConnell returned to the Capitol earlier in the week, allowing Republicans in the agriculture committee to advance the bill along party lines. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, said in each of the five farm bills he has worked on, the opposing parties “always seem to come together at the end” to get the bill done.

“Honestly, that’s what ought to be happening here, folks,” Thune said. 

Thune said he didn’t understand why Democrats were choosing to “block vote” against a bipartisan bill that is “principally about production agriculture.” 

The farm bill is typically reauthorized every five years, but the many programs under the bill have operated on various extensions of the 2018 farm bill for the past several years. 

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman from Pennsylvania said the ag sector is “begging” for a new farm bill. 

“We’ve got to find a way to pass this thing because people are coming all the way from my state saying, ‘We can’t keep waiting for this,’” Fetterman said. “We have to deliver for our farmers.” 

The error rate issue

Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act included language that requires states to lower their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payment error rates, which measures a state’s accuracy in determining who is eligible for SNAP and how much they receive. 

The latest SNAP payment error rates show only nine states are below the 6% error rate threshold that allows their SNAP programs to continue to be 100% funded by the federal government. As the law currently stands, all other states will have to pay 5%, 10% or 15% of SNAP benefits costs in their state starting Oct. 2027. 

States with an error rate above 13.34%, however, are eligible for a two-year extension. Democrats sought to extend this extension to all states, especially as some states are seemingly raising their current error rates so they can benefit from the extension. 

In August, Republicans on the Senate agriculture committee adjusted the farm bill proposal to include a one-year extension, but Democrats would not vote in favor of the bill.

Farm bill proposal fails in US Senate ag committee over SNAP error rate issue

Ranking member Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said it was her goal to “get this farm bill done, and to get it done by the end of the year,” and noted difficulties facing farmers and ranchers – like global trade disruptions, input costs and “headwinds” from tariffs. 

The Democrat said she was appreciative of Chairman John Boozman’s one-year delay, but said it would still allow certain states to get off “scot-free” while other states need tens of millions of dollars, according to estimates from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, to pay for their nutrition programs. 

“We don’t want to have a situation where high-error-rate states get off scot-free while the rest of us pay,” Klobuchar said. “And we have shown our commitment and will continue to do that to improving this bill to get us to a bipartisan product that can be successful on the Senate floor.”

If the version of the bill that advanced Wednesday is passed and signed into law, states would have until October 2028 to lower their error rates before they are required to shoulder part of the costs. 

Thune argued Democrats should be supportive of the bill, because if it doesn’t pass, current law will remain in effect and states will have to start paying for their error rates in 2027.

Thune also noted that the bill included a number of Democrat-led amendments, and bipartisan issues like allowing year-round, nationwide access to E15, a fuel blend with 15% ethanol. 

Several senators sported buttons at the hearing that read “E15 now” and agricultural groups, including National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union and the Renewable Fuel Association, thanked the committee for advancing the measure. 

Iowa senators try for amendments to bill

At the August markup of the bill, senators went through the massive piece of legislation title by title with amendments and objections, before voting, unsuccessfully, on the bill as a whole. Boozman did not open the bill up again for amendments Wednesday, though Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, attempted to talk over the roll call vote to argue her amendment should be heard. 

Ernst argued she had filed her amendment prior to the August deadline and held that the final title of the bill was not closed prior to the committee’s recess in August. 

Ernst said her amendment presented a “balanced middle ground approach” to address Proposition 12 – a California law stipulating that certain products, including pork products and bacon, must come from animals who were raised under certain conditions. 

Senate farm bill draft focuses on farm economy, keeps ‘Big Beautiful’ SNAP cuts

Congressional efforts to undo Proposition 12 have been championed by Iowa Republicans and supported by agricultural groups including the National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation. Animal rights, environmental groups and some producer groups, have pushed back against these efforts and celebrated that such language was not included in the Senate’s farm bill. 

Ernst said her amendment would have preserved Prop 12 and other existing laws, while preventing “future mandates from creating an unaffordable patchwork of 50 different production standards for farmers across this country.” 

“This is a serious attempt to find common ground and give our producers certainty going forward,” Ernst said. “Yet, after following the recommended process, again given by your staff, and doing the bipartisan work, we are not even being given an opportunity to bring the solution before the committee for a vote.” 

Boozman said he did not block the amendment from being brought forward during the bill markup in August. 

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico, said that while he might not vote with Ernst, “procedure” in the committee is supposed to “protect the voices of colleagues to raise issues that matter to us in our states.” 

“Because the senator from Iowa was recognized, and then just run over, that does not sound like the rights of those of us that sit on the committee were protected,” Luján said to Boozman. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley supported his Iowa colleague and said he was “hoping” the committee would “get a chance to vote on an amendment very important to Iowa” as the top pork producing state in the nation.

“It’s just stupid that we don’t have a chance to bring Iowa’s interest to this debate on the first farm bill that we’ve had in discussion for now the third year,” Grassley said. 

Grassley said he had also hoped to discuss his own bipartisan amendment, drafted with Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Adam Schiff of California to “finalize” certain rules in the Packers and Stockyards Act. 

Grassley has previously criticized U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins for delaying the implementation of rules, which he said were “put in place to protect” meat producers in the U.S., in particular poultry producers who have invested in infrastructure costs while corporations haven’t “honored fully” their commitments with family farmers. 

“I just want to express my irritation about the whole thing, and just hope that somewhere along the line, at least the Secretary of Agriculture will wake up and draw back her delays of these rules,” Grassley said. 

Rollins said in June the rule was a “Biden-era” regulation and that USDA needed additional time to review the rule. 

Boozman said if he opened the bill up for Ernst or Grassley’s amendments, he would have to restart the markup, and “we’re not prepared to do that.”

Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, reminded his colleagues that there would still be room for amendments to the bill on the Senate floor. 

“Let’s go to the floor, offer up amendments, have robust debate, and get this done for our farmers and ranchers,” Hoeven said. 

Before the House left town Wednesday, members of the House Agriculture Committee heard testimony from producers across the country about increasing demand for “homegrown products” by advancing things like stronger antitrust laws, country of origin labeling and expanded biomanufacturing opportunities. 

In his opening comments, Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, noted that the House had already passed its version of the farm bill, and he looked forward to “the Senate upholding its end of the bargain soon.”

In a statement Wednesday evening, Boozman said advancing the bill from the Senate committee was a “critical step” toward getting results to a “hurting” farm country. 

“While this is clearly welcome progress, we need more of our colleagues’ votes to reflect the urgency of supporting farmers, ranchers, forest landowners and rural communities,” Boozman said.