Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) got some bad news when the speakers list for this week's Republican midterm convention was released: he wasn't on it. And reports suggest he's so far on the outs with President Trump right now that he'll be kept well out of the spotlight when the GOP gathers in Dallas Wednesday for the two-day summit.
Even more stinging for Thune is the fact that Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) and NRSC Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) will have prime time speaking roles. And Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (LA-04) will reportedly be front and center throughout the event, talking up the need for the GOP to keep its majorities in both the House and Senate this November.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance are also expected to deliver keynote addresses, along with Cabinet and administration officials such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Attorney General Todd Blanche, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner.
Meanwhile, Thune will be relegated to the metaphorical children's table and make appearances at various convention-adjacent fundraising events. Thune's team told Punchbowl news that the majority leader "preferred to give other candidates and incumbents a turn in the spotlight."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune to work sidelines of GOP midterm convention, as Johnson takes spotlight https://t.co/JhOg86VbYI pic.twitter.com/PjHtlno9Sh
— New York Post (@nypost) September 7, 2026
The tension between the president and Thune is mostly down to Thune's inability to get the SAVE America Act passed ahead of the midterms. Trump wanted to Thune to keep the Senate in session last month in order to get the bill passed, but the majority leader opted instead to let members return home, saying he didn't have the votes.
In return for the president's wrath on this issue, according to Punchbowl, Thune "has basically laid responsibility for the Texas Senate race at Trump’s feet." The Thune-aligned Senate Leadership Fund and affiliated groups spent tens of millions of dollars in the primary, which saw incumbent Sen. John Cornyn lose to Trump-backed Ken Paxton.
“All of our allies out there, including the president and his team and their resources, need to be brought to bear on Texas, because it’s not one that we can lose if we’re going to hang on to a Republican majority,” Thune said last week on Fox News.
MAGA Inc., the Trump-linked SuperPAC, made its first major midterm buy recently, spending $10 million on pro-Paxton digital and TV ads that will air across the Lone Star state. The president revealed the PAC had $400 million to $500 million in its coffers, saying, "I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us."
In addition to the all-star lineup of Trump administration officials, the GOP convention will also hear from Donald Trump, Jr., former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and various House and Senate candidates who are hoping to help Republicans hold onto their majorities this year.