John Thune Is Trying to Block Tim Burchett and Burchett’s Reaction Is Turning Heads

John Thune is working behind the scenes to keep Tim Burchett out of the United States Senate.

Burchett found out exactly why, and what he said back is already spreading fast.

The congressman Thune wanted gone just handed him a response he will not forget.

Tim Burchett's Response to Being Blocked Is Not What Thune Expected

Conservative radio host Todd Starnes reported Monday, November 9, that Senate Majority Leader John Thune was actively working to keep Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn from appointing Burchett to the Senate seat she will leave behind.

Starnes said Thune does not want Burchett anywhere near the Senate floor.

Most politicians would deny a report like that, or go quiet and let their staff handle it.

Burchett did neither.

He told Starnes that a prominent media figure had already warned him Thune's objection comes down to one thing: Burchett will not automatically fall in line behind Senate GOP leadership.

"I love the fact that he's not for me," Burchett said.

He added that he does not think Thune's current leadership is what the Senate needs right now.

Earlier in 2026, Burchett already called for new Senate leadership after accusing Thune of ignoring the SAVE America Act, the voter-integrity bill House conservatives had pushed for months, according to the Washington Examiner.

Marsha Blackburn Holds the Pen for Tennessee's Next Senator

Blackburn won her race for governor on November 3, 2026, and plans to stay in the Senate until she is sworn in as governor in January 2027.

That means she gets to hand-pick her replacement, and whoever she chooses will serve until Tennessee voters pick someone permanently in 2028.

Burchett wants the job, and the field around him is already crowded.

Washington Examiner reporting found that Thune has not even spoken to Blackburn about the seat, while Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Rep. Andy Ogles, and former Knox County Mayor and WWE legend Glenn Jacobs all circle the opening.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been ruled out, according to the Associated Press.

Asked point blank whether he wants the appointment, Burchett did not hesitate, answering without a hint of qualification.

That leaves him squarely in Thune's crosshairs as the frontrunner Senate leadership would rather not see sworn in.

The Donor Class Tim Burchett Says Has Already Picked Someone Else

Burchett did not stop at Thune.

He named the real power structure he believes is working against him: the party's wealthiest donors.

Burchett said that network of money has stayed on the sidelines throughout his career, and he does not expect that to change now that a Senate seat is on the line.

He says he raised one million dollars last quarter anyway, and that an internal survey shows him with a double-digit lead over every other name floated for the seat.

Burchett also said he is pushing to cut off taxpayer money he claims flows to the Taliban through NGOs, at a rate he puts at forty million dollars a week.

If Blackburn passes him over, Burchett says he will simply run for the seat himself in 2028.

He also said he will use social media to call out any lawmaker who tries to stand in his way.

Thune has drawn fire from his own side before on exactly this kind of complaint.

The Gateway Pundit reported this month that Speaker Mike Johnson accused Thune's Senate of stacking up more than seven hundred House-passed bills with no floor action as the lame duck session runs out.

A sitting Majority Leader who cannot move a single one of those seven hundred stalled bills now has to explain why he is spending his political capital trying to keep one House conservative out of a single Senate seat.

Tennessee's next senator will be whoever Marsha Blackburn decides can survive that fight, and Tim Burchett has already told the party's donor class he is not asking their permission.

Sources:

• Jim Hoft, "I Love the Fact That He's Not for Me," The Gateway Pundit, November 10, 2026.
• Washington Examiner, "Tim Burchett Calls for New Senate Leadership After John Thune Ignores SAVE America Act," Washington Examiner, 2026.
• The Gateway Pundit, "Speaker Mike Johnson Throws RINO John Thune's Senate Under the Bus," The Gateway Pundit, November 2026.