Republican senators are scrambling to figure out why they failed to retake the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections despite President Joe Biden’s unpopularity and fears about the state of the U.S. economy, saying on Monday that candidate recruitment and election lies of Donald Trump are hurting their ability to gain power.   

  Meanwhile, Senate GOP leaders are pushing for a midweek vote to reassert their control of the conference, even as some conservatives push for changes at the top.   

  Florida Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told CNN’s Manu Raju that he has not yet decided whether to challenge Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican leader.  For months, McConnell and Scott have argued over how the party should try to win the Senate.   

  “I haven’t made a decision yet,” Scott said.   

  Not only did Democrats hold the Senate 50-50, they could even strengthen their hold on Dec. 6, when Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock faces Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker in Georgia’s runoff election. .   

  Republican senators who returned to the Capitol on Monday afternoon for the first time since Election Day were exasperated by how the party missed its opportunity.   

  “There is no single factor,” said Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn, noting the growing pains of “first-time candidates,” a “confusing political environment” and “a combination of issues.”   

  The future of democracy was also a top issue after Trump lied for two years that the 2020 election was stolen from him.   

  South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said it’s clear that “a 2020 runoff is not a winning strategy.”   

  “We’re going to have a very strong and honest discussion over the next couple of days,” Thune said.  “I think there’s no doubt that we fell short of expectations in this election.”   

  Asked if Trump played a role in hindering the Republicans’ success, Thune said: “I mean, I think there’s never one thing.”   

  West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito also said candidates who dwelled on the past did not fare as well as those who discussed the future.   

  “I think looking ahead is always a better campaign strategy,” Capito said.  “Looking back at 2020 it obviously didn’t work.  So I think we have to look ahead.  That’s what our candidates should, and wanted, to do, and some of them just failed.”   

  Ohio Sen. Rob Portman declined to blame Trump for the GOP’s underperformance, stressing the need for “better candidate recruitment” and “staying on the issues.”   

  Trump, Portman noted, “beat JD Vance in the primary and then JD won the general election by eight points,” referring to the Ohio Republican Senate candidate who beat Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.  Portman said the Republican Party ran candidates that “most independent-minded voters just couldn’t support.”   

  “So we have to do a better job of recruiting candidates and then sticking to the issues,” he said.  “On the issues, we were good.”   

  But some Republicans acknowledged that their stance on a key issue — abortion — may have cost them.   

  “I think abortion has been a bigger issue and a more difficult one for my party than we expected,” Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said.   

  Some GOP senators tried to find the silver lining.   

  “The results were disappointing, but in the end, we effectively took control of the House from the Republicans,” Cornyn said.  “I think that may be the cause of the Democrats’ excitement because they said it could have been a lot worse.”   

  “I don’t know why the Biden administration considers this a victory,” Cornyn added.  “It’s kind of like the old saying, there’s nothing quite as exciting as being shot at and missing.”   

  CNN has yet to predict Republicans taking the House, but Republicans appear on track to have a narrow majority, which would flip the chamber.   

  Trump is expected to announce a comeback bid for the White House on Tuesday, but some Republicans in the House and Senate did not appear ready for a repeat.   

  “The former president is going to do whatever he wants to do, and I don’t think he’s going to listen to my thoughts on that,” South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said.  “I want someone who will unite our party.  This is how we win elections.”   

  “A reasonable person who can unite the party,” he added.   

  Asked if he wants Trump to be the GOP nominee in 2024, Idaho GOP Rep. Mike Simpson told CNN: “Let’s see who runs.  Personally, I don’t think it’s good for the party.”   

  “I think his policies were good.  I just don’t need all the drama with it,” she added.   

  Romney, a Trump critic who voted to remove him from office when he was president, called the former president “an albatross around the neck of Republicans.”   

  “I think it’s a long time on the mountain,” Romney added.  “We lost three games with him.  And I’d like to see someone from the bench, come in and take their place and lead our party and help lead the country.”   

  Along with the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, Simpson said one of the reasons some Republicans underperformed was their connection to the former president.  “I think we had some candidates who were very close to Trump,” Simpson said.   

  Thune said the party must now aim to win the Georgia Senate runoff, even though Democrats have already won a majority in the House.   

  “There’s a huge difference, as you all know, between a 50-50 Senate and a 51, so we really need that seat and that’s where all our efforts need to go,” he said.   

  Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer disputed the Democratic victory on the chamber floor.   

  “With our democracy at stake, our fundamental freedoms on the line, and a clear choice between advancing America or holding it back, the American people have spoken loud and clear: Democrats will retain their Senate majority,” said Sumer.