Sen. Hawley: The Old Party Is Dead, Time to Build Something New

A Senate Republican has declared that his party “is dead” and it’s time for something “new” after a string of deflating midterm losses ensured Democrats will control the Senate for at least another two years.

“The old party is dead,” Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said in a tweet Saturday night. “Time to bury it. Build something new.”

Hawley tweeted shortly after it was projected that Democratic incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada beat her Republican challenger, Adam Laxalt, in the pair’s hotly contested race.

Laxalt’s defeat comes after Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz lost to Democrat John Fetterman for a Pennsylvania Senate seat and Republican Blake Masters failed to knock off Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona.

The House is still up for grabs as a handful of undecided races could determine which party garners the majority. 

Hawley previously tweeted out other criticism of the Republican Party days after Election Day as he argued, “You can’t expect independent voters to vote Republican unless you give them an agenda they care about.”

Hawley also wrote that “Washington Republicanism lost big” on Election Day because of failed priorities.

“When your ‘agenda’ is cave to Big Pharma on insulin, cave to [Dem Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer on gun control & Green New Deal (‘infrastructure’), and tease changes to Social Security and Medicare, you lose,” he said.

“What are Republicans actually going to do for working people?” Hawley added. “How about, to start: tougher tariffs on China, reshore American jobs, open up American energy full throttle, 100k new cops on the street. Unrig the system.”

Hawley is among a group of GOP senators pushing to delay the vote on his party’s Senate leadership as current Minority Leader Mitch McConnell faces pushback for Republicans’ electoral failures.

He agreed with Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who urged the GOP leadership vote to be postponed, stating in a Friday tweet, “First we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like Florida.”

Hawley said the leadership vote should be delayed until after the runoff election in Georgia where Republican Herschel Walker looks to top Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis have also voiced support for delaying the vote, though a Senate GOP aide told Fox News Digital the leadership elections are expected to go on as scheduled.

McConnell has also faced backlash from former President Donald Trump for the GOP’s poor showing Tuesday while some Republicans have blasted Trump for contributing to Republicans losing critical races.