Pressure builds on Thune ahead of GOP leadership elections

Driving the news: Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) all signed a letter demanding that the leadership elections be delayed to allow for more discussion about what went wrong for the party last week.

• Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) backed them up in statements posted on X.
• Johnson threatened to skip the vote if the delay doesn't happen.

Between the lines: The decision technically falls to conference chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) — though it's usually made with leadership buy-in.

• The election is expected to be held as planned Tuesday morning unless a senator motions to delay and it passes with a majority — which seems unlikely with the number of public supporters, according to a source familiar with the planning discussions.
• Despite the arguments that Thune should not get to lock in his leadership so quickly, no one has thrown their hat in the ring to challenge him.

The bottom line: At this point, none of the leadership elections are competitive.

• Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Policy Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Conference Vice Chair James Lankford (R-Okla.) are expected to keep their spots as Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 atop the conference. Moreno is the sole candidate for NRSC chair.