Inside Senate GOP's tense post-election reckoning as Thune clashes with Republican critics

Senate Republicans huddled for hours on end to define their remaining time in power and determine if the leadership they had backed so far was the right choice moving forward into a new era in Washington, D.C.Some closed-door meetings over the last nearly two years Republicans have controlled the Senate have been animated, with policy pitches devolving into shouting matches — President Donald Trump and Sen.Bill Cassidy, R-La., infamously sparred over the Iran war earlier this year.This confab, their first since Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats roared back into the majority, was different.

In part, it was meant to develop a plan that would carry them through the final weeks of this year — that was agreed upon during the meeting, but not without its own drama after the fact on who could lay claim to the GOP’s 54-day blitz.SENATE GOP REBELLION FIZZLES AS THUNE KEEPS POWER DESPITE HISTORIC MIDTERM MASSACRESenate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., arrives for Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S.Capitol on Nov.

10, 2026.(CQ-Roll Call, Inc.

via Getty Images)It was also a test to see if Republicans wanted to keep Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., as their leader, or delay until a challenger appeared.But Republicans pushing for a delay acknowledged part of the problem: Who would want the job?"I got the job because nobody else wants it," Thune told Fox News Digital after the dust settled in the Old Senate Chamber.And he did, along with much of the same leadership team that Senate Republicans elected when they won the majority two years ago, by acclamation, meaning no lawmaker objected to their leadership slate.Some told Fox News Digital it was like "Festivus," the holiday etched into Gen-Xers' brains from "Seinfeld" known for its airing of grievances.Others described it as a frank, needed debrief as the GOP picks through the debris of Election Night.GOP SENATOR WITHHOLDS SUPPORT FOR THUNE AS LEADERSHIP SHOWDOWN LOOM...