The Archive

Turmoil has broken out among Senate and House Republicans, as key lawmakers in both chambers have begun to push against their leadership.

A number of prominent Senate Republicans are calling for a delay in the leadership elections which are slated to be held next week.

Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are circulating a letter, calling for a delay in the leadership election, but also asking candidates a broad range of questions that they would like answered about the management and policy preferences of the next GOP leader.

Here’s the letter, which is making its way through the Senate GOP ranks:

In a similar vein, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who just won re-election in a romp, said this:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has not been seen as particularly vulnerable. He only has to clear a 50% threshold in his race.

In the House, a number of restive conservatives have said that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is not suited to be speaker of the House if the GOP takes the majority. Most estimates indicate that Republicans can only win 220 seats, leaving McCarthy a two-seat cushion to be elected to the chamber’s top job. A number of Republicans in the House are also calling to delay the leadership election — scheduled for Tuesday — but the leadership has shown little appetite to push it off.

In the internal leadership election, McCarthy only needs to garner the support of half of the conference. That shouldn’t be much of a challenge. But if he emerges with fewer than 218 votes — the threshold he would need to reach on the floor — he will be seen as weakened and vulnerable.

— Jake Sherman