Conservatives Blame John Thune for Stalled SAVE America Act as He Eyes Minority Leader Job

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to run for Senate Republican leader in the new minority even as conservatives blame him for the GOP’s midterm losses.

A source close to Thune told Fox News Digital that he intends to seek the minority leader post. It remains unclear whether he will face a challenger.

Democrats won control of the Senate on Tuesday, flipping at least seven Republican-held seats, including Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the Associated Press.

Much of the anger on the right centers on the SAVE America Act. The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

The bill passed the House three times in 2026 but stalled in the Senate, where it could not clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold, Fox News reported. Thune refused to change the rule.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., aimed squarely at Thune as results came in Tuesday night. “Reminder: We have John Thune to thank for not passing the SAVE America Act and securing our elections earlier,” she wrote on X.

Mace’s post had been viewed about 940,000 times and liked more than 70,000 times by late Wednesday morning, one of the most widely shared GOP reactions to the losses.

Federalist CEO Sean Davis praised Johnson’s decision not to seek the House GOP leader job. “John Thune should follow suit, but he won’t,” Davis wrote on X.

A Long-Running Feud

The fight is not new. In June, Trump canceled a Capitol bill signing for housing legislation and demanded the elections bill pass first, CBS News reported. Thune had repeatedly said the bill lacked the votes.

Thune has called himself the filibuster’s defender. “One of my priorities as leader will be to ensure that the Senate stays the Senate,” he said in his first floor speech as leader.

He argued Republicans would need the rule once they lost power. Democrats may “try and steal the car,” Thune said, “but we’re not going to hand them the keys.”

With Democrats now taking the majority, the filibuster becomes Senate Republicans’ main tool to slow their agenda. Thune’s critics argue that keeping it cost the party a central campaign promise.

The South Dakota Republican Party earlier considered a resolution to censure Thune for his “failure” on the elections bill. Delegates rejected it, but the effort showed the anger he faced from the base.

Thune defended his record after the defeat. Senate Republicans “put up a strong record of accomplishment that’s created safer streets, more money in Americans’ pockets, and new opportunities for families and businesses to get ahead,” he wrote on social media.

Another source close to the Senate GOP told Fox News Digital that Thune’s bid could draw serious backlash because the conference did not deliver on key parts of the president’s agenda.

That source pointed to the Senate’s schedule, saying the chamber was in session only 217 days in 2025 and 148 days in 2026, which the source said hurt Republican turnout.

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