No one rose to oppose Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who secured another term as the top Republican behind the closed doors of the Old Senate Chamber, where lawmakers charted their course for their few remaining weeks in power and beyond.
asserted
lawmakers → rise → power
His victory comes after a cohort of Republicans led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., demanded that the Senate GOP pause its scheduled leadership elections to debrief on their stunning midterm losses.
asserted
GOP → come → losses
The night before, Thune was adamant that he’d still run but was unsure of the outcome.
asserted
he → run → outcome
"That's the hope," Thune said when asked if he had the Senate GOP’s support.
asserted
he → say → support
"You never know right until they vote."
asserted
they → know → ?
Before the vote, Johnson and a handful of others believed there should be a shakeup in leadership but didn’t offer an alternative to Thune.
asserted
Johnson → believe → Thune
"After the stunning defeat, you just can't continue on business as usual," Johnson said.
asserted
Johnson → continue → business
"I mean, that kind of defeat demands change."
asserted
kind → mean → change
When asked if he’d be interested in running, Johnson said, "That’s part of the problem.
asserted
That → ask → problem
Would you want it?
asserted
you → want → it
"I think there's a number of people with talent," Johnson said.
asserted
Johnson → think → talent
"Again, I'm not — at a minimum, we need to see out of our leadership team what's the strategy moving forward, and you can't come off of a defeat like that and just ram through elections and, 'Oh yeah, let's just elect that leadership team by acclamation.’"
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., had previously run for leader twice and most recently against Thune.
asserted
Scott → need → Thune
But the lawmaker, who joined Johnson’s crusade for change, declined to throw his hat into the arena again.
asserted
who → join → arena
"I think we have to acknowledge the voters are not happy," Scott said.
asserted
Scott → think → ?
"We have to start listening to voters."
asserted
We → have → voters
Scott wanted ironclad promises on the GOP’s to-do list, including ramming through judicial nominees, government funding "without a massive omnibus," a stock trade ban, permitting reform, passing the National Defense Authorization Act, taking another crack at the SAVE America Act and balancing the budget, possibly through budget reconciliation.
uncertain
Scott → want → reconciliation
Johnson and Scott were joined by senators Ted Budd, R-N.C., Mike Lee, R-Utah, John Kennedy, R-La., Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Dave McCormick, R-Pa., in a push to delay the elections that was not met, and the would-be coup faded as the secret ballots were cast.
asserted
ballots → join → elections
Still, there were others outside that cohort who weren’t happy with last week and believed that there should be deeper soul-searching on what Republicans did over the last two years that led to a historic night for Senate Democrats.
asserted
that → be → Democrats
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., contended that much of what the GOP listed as accomplishments over their time in power is what worked against them.
asserted
what → contend → them
"And, you know, you have the kind of record that this Congress has had, I think we better have a pretty tough family conversation about what it is we're doing," Hawley said.
asserted
Hawley → know → conversation
"When you cut Medicaid, but you fund data centers, when you cut rural hospital funding, but you fund Planned Parenthood, when you let the cost of healthcare for working people go through the roof, but you can't do anything for them on other issues of affordability, from fertilizer to gas," he continued.
asserted
he → cut → gas
"Yeah, you know what?
asserted
you → know → ?
The public doesn’t like that very much."
asserted
public → like → that
The Aporia
