Thune and Schumer Face Senate Votes as Democrats Plan Ed Oversight

Both parties in the United States Senate opened internal leadership deliberations on Monday following midterm elections that handed Democrats control of Congress, while incoming House and Senate committee chairs outlined plans to investigate federal education policies. On Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans prepared for a Tuesday leadership vote on South Dakota Sen. John Thune as Democrats discussed New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's 12-year tenure, even as Democratic lawmakers readied subpoenas and appropriations conditions targeting changes at the U.S. Education Department.

Senate Republicans Debate Tuesday Vote on Thune as Democrats Eye 56-Seat Majority

Returning to Washington ahead of the new Congress convening on January 3, Senate Republicans—who are losing roughly a quarter of their conference to election defeats and retirements—are scheduled on Tuesday to hold a closed-door, secret-ballot election on reelecting Sen. John Thune, who succeeded Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as Republican leader two years ago. While President Donald Trump called Thune "a very fine man" on Monday and said the choice is up to the Senate, a group of Republican senators including Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, Utah Sen. Mike Lee, and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson has called for delaying the Tuesday vote until lessons from the election are debated and two uncalled Senate races in Alaska (involving Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan) and Mississippi (involving Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith) are decided.

Across the aisle, Senate Democrats could hold as many as 56 seats next year and expect to hold their secret-ballot leadership election in December. Although Sen. Chuck Schumer—who has led the Senate Democratic caucus for 12 years—enjoys broad backing from colleagues including New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and returning Ohio Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown (who defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted), Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is considering a challenge as lawmakers look ahead to the 2028 presidential cycle. Incoming Democratic senators who vote in party elections prior to being seated in January expressed differing views on Monday: Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed said he will back Van Hollen, Brown confirmed he supports Schumer, and Minnesota Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan said she is not yet ready to make a commitment.

Democrats Prepare Subpoenas and Budget Riders Over Education Department

With majorities in both chambers for the next two years, congressional Democrats are also preparing to use committee oversight and appropriations bills to challenge the administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Education Department, which opened in 1980. Over the past two years, administration officials cut the Education Department's workforce by nearly half and signed intergovernmental agreements transferring special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and school discrimination investigations to the Justice Department (DOJ), while challenging diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and federal funding at universities such as Harvard.

Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, sent a formal letter to 10 federal agencies the day after the midterm elections reminding officials to preserve records for upcoming congressional reviews of agency restructuring and federal student loan oversight. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren likewise called for accountability, while Education Department spokesperson Savannah Newhouse accused Democrats of plotting to prematurely sabotage Education Secretary Linda McMahon and White House spokesperson Liz Huston defended the administration's record.

Because President Trump can veto standalone legislation—even as the Heritage Foundation urged Republicans to propose a bill sunsetting the 1980 agency—Sen. Chris Van Hollen told The Associated Press that Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats are exploring spending-bill guardrails to prevent further dismantling. Outside advocates including Diana Autin of the Newark-based SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, Aaron Ament of Student Defense, Todd Wolfson of the American Association of University Professors (which endorsed candidates such as El-Sayed for the first time this cycle), and Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers are also watching the confirmation process after Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced her resignation last Thursday and Trump promoted Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff.