Thune Must Censure Slotkin or Be Complicit in Democratic Lawfare Against Republican Staffers
Source: Joy Pullmann. "If Thune Doesn't Censure Slotkin, He Supports Nuking GOP Staff." October 19, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author says Sen. Slotkin openly said she wants to prosecute Trump staffers to scare young people away from working for Republicans, and that this repeats earlier abuses by Democrats. In her view, if Majority Leader Thune doesn't at least censure Slotkin, he is effectively backing those abuses.
Conclusion
If Senate Majority Leader John Thune does not at least censure Sen. Elissa Slotkin for her stated goal of prosecuting Trump administration staffers to deter service, he effectively supports unconstitutional abuses of power and is a co-conspirator with Democratic lawfare.
Premises
- Slotkin publicly stated she wants to pursue 'signature cases' against Trump's enablers, not just Trump, so that young people are deterred from working in his administration.
- Deliberately prosecuting people to deter them from political service chills constitutionally protected speech and association and is therefore an unconstitutional abuse of power.
- Democrats have already done something similar through Arctic Frost, which the author says targeted hundreds of thousands of Republicans and conservative organizations and involved violations of the Constitution, such as secretly obtaining senators' communications, and went unpunished.
- Slotkin's statements show Democrats plan to continue and expand such prosecutions if they regain power, and they are now open about it because they expect no consequences.
- Republican leaders' failure to punish past abuses has emboldened Democrats, and a censure is the minimum response available to a nominally Republican-majority Senate.
- Therefore, failing to pass even a censure signals tolerance of, or complicity in, future abuses.
Assumptions
- Slotkin's remarks are a commitment to unconstitutional, politically motivated prosecutions rather than a call for legitimate prosecution of actual crimes.
- Arctic Frost was as extensive and unconstitutional as the author claims.
- A Senate censure is feasible, would pass, and would meaningfully deter or express opposition.
- Failing to take a particular symbolic action is equivalent to supporting the underlying conduct (a false dilemma of support versus censure).
- Thune has the power to secure a censure vote, and any failure is attributable to his choice rather than to the lack of votes or to procedural constraints.
- Republican leadership inaction is the primary driver of expected midterm losses.