Speaking with South Dakota television station KELO, Thune said he is taking the possibility of a Democratic Senate seriously.
“I worry about that, for sure,” Thune said. “I’m a realist, and I just think you, I don’t ever try and sugarcoat things. I think it’s a competitive environment right now. I think we got the highest-quality candidates.”
Democrats would need to gain four Senate seats to take back the majority, meaning Republicans still have a path to retaining control.
Yet the warning from Thune has raised an obvious question among conservatives: Why is the Republican base so difficult to energize when the party controls the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives?
Critics point directly at Senate leadership.
Republicans won majorities across Washington with a mandate to advance President Trump’s agenda. But conservatives have repeatedly complained that Senate Republicans have been unwilling to use their institutional power aggressively enough to overcome Democratic resistance.
One of the clearest examples, they argue, is the SAVE America Act.
The legislation has become a major flashpoint in the broader fight over election rules. Supporters say the proposal would strengthen federal elections by requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration, establishing voter identification requirements for federal elections and directing states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.
Those provisions have attracted significant support in polling cited by supporters of the legislation.
According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll referenced in the original reporting, 71% of registered voters backed the SAVE America Act as a whole. The same polling showed support from 69% of independents and 50% of Democrats. Support for individual provisions was even higher, with 81% favoring voter ID, 80% supporting the removal of noncitizens from voter rolls and 75% backing proof-of-citizenship requirements.
Despite that support, the legislation has not cleared the Senate.
That failure has become a source of growing frustration among conservatives, including Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee.
Following Thune’s comments, Lee argued that Republicans already have a potential answer to the very political problem Thune described.
“If only there were a bill the Senate could reconvene to debate and pass—one supported by 80% of all voters that could unite Republicans, expand our reach, and help us win elections…
“Oh wait.”
Lee then directly challenged Thune’s apparent suggestion that Republicans do not have enough votes to move the legislation forward.
“John Thune is mistaken,” Lee wrote.
“We do have the votes to pass the SAVE America Act—because we have a simple majority.
“All we lack is the will to enforce the talking filibuster (requiring filibustering senators to speak), and to stay in session continuously until it passes.
“It’d pass.”
The argument cuts to the heart of the growing dispute inside the Republican Party.
Conservatives have long criticized Senate rules and leadership decisions that allow Democrats to slow or stop portions of the GOP agenda. For Republicans who believe election integrity is a defining issue with their voters, the failure to advance the SAVE America Act is particularly difficult to understand.
Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, delivered an even harsher assessment of Thune’s comments.
“John Thune refuses to pass the SAVE America Act, with the support of 80% of Americans,” Davis wrote.
“He has demoralized the Republican base.
“Then he acts surprised he may lose the Senate.”
That criticism reflects a broader concern heading into the midterms.
Republican candidates cannot simply rely on the party’s victories at the presidential level, conservatives argue. They also need an energized grassroots base willing to donate, volunteer and turn out on Election Day.
For critics of Thune, the issue is therefore larger than one piece of legislation.
They contend that Republican voters were promised an aggressive America First agenda — and that Senate leadership has failed to match those expectations.
Now Thune is warning that Republicans could lose their Senate majority.
The response from his critics is blunt: If Republican leaders want Republican voters to fight to preserve the majority, they first need to give those voters something to fight for.
