Senate Republicans plan 54-day blitz to push Trump's agenda before Democrats seize power
With their leadership elections settled, Senate Republicans are gearing up to "maximize" their remaining time in power before Senate Democrats take over next year.All eyes are again on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who was re-elected to another term as the Republican leader.Shortly after winning, Thune declared that he and the Senate GOP were "committed to being here to do whatever it takes to get as much done as we can.""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," Thune said.
"But we are going to finish this legislative session strong."SENATE GOP REBELLION FIZZLES AS THUNE KEEPS POWER DESPITE HISTORIC MIDTERM MASSACRESenate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., conducts a news conference in the U.S.Capitol after winning the minority leader position for the 120th Congress in Senate Republican leadership elections on Nov.
10, 2026.(CQ-Roll Call, Inc.
via Getty Images)The Senate was initially set to be in roughly 20 days from Tuesday until the changing of the guard, but Republicans are now squeezing the juice out of every last minute to ram through must-pass legislation, dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees and more.And Republicans agreed to hold themselves to that sprint until the end of the year at the tail end of their marathon closed-door meeting on Tuesday.Lawmakers plan to "maximize the 54 days we have with congressional majorities, to confirm every judicial nominee and every executive nominee that the conference approves of, to pass our core Republican priorities, and to do everything humanly possible to pass a reconciliation bill before Jan.3," according to a resolution agreed to in the meeting obtained by Fox News Digital.Another crack at budget reconciliation could be the trickiest part of their ambitious year-end gauntlet, particularly depending on what lawmakers try to cram into the process.GOP SENATOR WITHHOLDS SUPPORT FOR THUNE AS...