Democrats are projected to hold 54 Senate seats when the new Congress convenes on January 3, 2027. Possibly 56 depending on what happens in Alaska. Ron DeSantis wants to make sure everyone knows whose fault that is.
It's not the Democrats'.
The Florida governor appeared on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show the night after the midterms and delivered what amounted to a political autopsy — performed without anesthesia. "I saw no indication that the current group of Republican senators were interested in doing that type of bold conservative change," DeSantis said.
DeSantis ticked through the failures with the specificity of someone who'd been keeping a list. "Why haven't we done immigration, shut off H-1B visas? Why haven't we codified Trump's immigration executive orders?" he asked. These weren't rhetorical questions. Republicans held the Senate majority for two years. They had the House. They had a Republican president who would have signed every one of those bills. The bills never arrived.
The central target was Senate Majority Leader John Thune, though DeSantis was careful enough to indict the institution rather than just the man. Back in June, Thune rejected a proposal to attach the SAVE America Act — which would have required proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections — to a must-pass spending bill. By August, Thune was blaming Democrats for stalling legislation. By September, President Trump himself had publicly warned that failing to pass the SAVE Act would cost Republicans at the ballot box.
Thune didn't listen. The SAVE Act never passed. And on November 3, the voters who were supposed to be energized by Republican accomplishments stayed home instead.
"A lot of our voters who stayed home. They stayed home because they were frustrated with the lack of productivity from Republicans in the House and Senate," DeSantis said.
DeSantis's prescription was as blunt as his diagnosis. "Make sure EVERY VACANCY IS FILLED between NOW and Jan. 3," he said, referring to federal judicial appointments. With the Senate flipping to Democratic control in January, every unfilled judgeship becomes a seat that will be filled by someone Justices Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito would not recognize as a colleague. The clock isn't metaphorical. It expires in 59 days.
The uncomfortable math is simple. Republicans entered the 2026 cycle with unified government — the presidency, the House, the Senate. They will exit it holding only the White House. The legislative majority that was supposed to deliver on immigration, on election integrity, on the agenda that won 2024, delivered confirmation hearings and continuing resolutions.
DeSantis got people to the polls by putting the kind of bold legislation on the ballot he talked about. He offered homeowners a way to reduce their property tax bill. Without that initiative, DeSantis says, a lot more voters would have sat out this election and more Republicans would have lost their elections in Florida. That's the kind of bold action he says Senate Republicans needs to be taking.
Democrats take the gavel on January 3. The judicial vacancies are still open.
