参议员罗恩·约翰逊（共和党-威斯康星州）已获得五位共和党同僚的签名，足以要求召开更广泛的参议院共和党会议，讨论推迟定于下周举行的领导层选举。据一位熟悉此事的参议院共和党助手透露，身为参议院预算委员会主席的约翰逊寻求推迟选举，缘于特朗普总统的一名顾问质疑参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩（共和党-南达科他州）是否应连任党团领袖。
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) obtained the five signatures he needs from GOP colleagues to request a meeting of the broader Senate Republican conference to discuss postponing their leadership election, which is scheduled for next week. Johnson, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, is seeking a delay on the election after an adviser of President Trump questioned whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) should be reelected to lead the caucus, according to a Senate GOP aide familiar with the effort.
然而，目前没有任何参议员公开表示有意挑战图恩，后者在参议院共和党同僚中依然颇受欢迎。该团队在本选举周期筹集了超过8亿美元，以捍卫参议院共和党的多数派地位。会议规则规定，参议院共和党政策委员会主席雪莱·摩尔·卡皮托（共和党-西弗吉尼亚州）须在五位或以上同僚以书面形式提出请求时，召集会议。
No senator, however, has publicly expressed an interest in challenging Thune, who remains popular among his GOP colleagues in the upper chamber. The group raised more than $800 million to protect the Senate Republican majority in this election cycle. The conference rules provide for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, to call a meeting of the group whenever requested to do so in writing by five or more colleagues.
参议院共和党会议已定于周二上午召开，就新领导层进行投票。约翰逊致函要求暂停这一时间表，向同僚释放信号，表明他希望在同僚填写秘密选票、对图恩及其领导团队其他成员的连任进行投票前，先讨论推迟投票事宜。参议院保守派在2024年大选后也曾寻求推迟党团领导层竞选，当时共和党赢得四个民主党把持的席位并夺回多数派控制权。
The Senate Republican conference is already scheduled to meet on Tuesday morning to vote on its new leadership team. Johnson's letter requesting a pause on that timeline is a signal to colleagues that he wants to discuss postponing the vote before colleagues fill out their secret ballots on reelecting Thune and other members of his leadership team. Senate conservatives also sought to delay their conference’s leadership contest after the 2024 election, when Republicans picked up four Democratic-held seats and capture the majority.
那次努力未获成功。亚历克斯·布鲁塞维茨在本周早些时候共和党在全国范围内失利、将导致他们在明年国会中至少失去七个席位的背景下，呼吁参议院共和党另觅新领袖。“我看了一份报告，说参议员约翰·图恩正滑向参议院少数党领袖的位置，”布鲁塞维茨在社交平台X上发帖称。
That effort wasn’t successful. Alex Bruesewitz called for Senate Republicans to find new leaders in the wake of Republicans losses across the country earlier this week, which will cost them control of at least seven seats in next year’s Congress. “I saw a report that says Senator John Thune is gliding into the Senate Minority Leader role," Bruesewitz posted on social platform X. "Why do Hill Republicans insist on rewarding failure?"
“为什么国会山上的共和党人坚持要奖励失败？”他补充道，“他并不完全符合共和党选民的利益。也许该给别人一个机会了？”
He added, "He’s not exactly in touch with the interests of Republican voters. Perhaps it’s time to give someone else a chance?”