Kennedy Urges GOP to Treat Midterm Loss as a Warning

Sen. John Kennedy urged Republicans to treat the 2026 midterm losses as a serious warning and use their remaining weeks in control of the Senate to advance unfinished priorities, including permitting reform and judicial confirmations.

In an interview on Wednesday, Kennedy said the result was not a normal midterm loss and argued that Republican voters had crossed over to vote for Democrats rather than staying home. His comments, made as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress after the new year, focused on what Republicans should do before the transition.

Kennedy cited a typical midterm swing of about seven points toward the party opposing the president and said the 2026 swing was roughly 13 points. Those figures were his comparison; the underlying calculations were not detailed in the reports. He said Republicans should not explain away the result as routine political change.

His proposed agenda includes passing a permitting reform bill and completing judicial confirmations. Kennedy also urged Republicans to keep the Senate working through its remaining legislative period and said senators leaving office should attend through their final day. He backed a resolution by Sen....