RNC proposes rule change to enable midterm convention

FIRST ON FOX — The Republican National Committee (RNC) is taking a big step toward holding its first midterm convention.

The RNC on Thursday made a change to the party’s rules that would allow Chairman Joe Gruters “to hold a special ceremonial meeting outside of the presidential election cycle,” according to a statement first shared with Fox News Digital.

National political conventions where party delegates from across the country formally nominate their party’s presidential candidates are normally held during presidential election years.

But as Republicans aim to preserve their narrow control of the Senate and their razor-thin majority in the House in this year’s elections, President Donald Trump announced in September that the GOP would hold a convention before the midterm elections “to show off the great things we’ve done” since recapturing the White House.

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The new memo highlights “the possibility of an America First midterm convention-style meeting consistent with President Trump’s vision of energizing the party this fall.”

The party in power, the Republicans, normally faces stiff political headwinds in midterm elections. The hope among Trump and top Republicans is that a midterm convention would give the GOP a high-profile platform to showcase the president’s record and the congressional candidates running in the midterm elections.

The rules of the RNC are to hold a convention every four years. The proposed rule change would allow the RNC to hold a midterm meeting. The rule states that, if adopted, the convention must be called at least 60 days in advance and no business will be conducted during the meeting.

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The proposed change was adopted Thursday evening by the RNC Rules Committee at the party’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara, California.

It’s unclear whether all RNC members will vote on the rule change when they meet at the confab’s general session on Friday. If the rule is not approved by the full RNC, it is expected to be approved at the party’s spring convention.

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters speaks at the RNC’s summer meeting in Atlanta on August 22, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Gruters emphasized that the RNC’s winter meeting “shows how united Republicans are behind President Trump and our efforts to win the midterm elections.” The RNC is aggressively focused on expanding our war chest, turning out voters, and protecting the ballot box in this fall’s elections. “We are building the operation needed to preserve our majority and give President Trump a full four-year term with the Republican Congress.”

Details regarding the date and location of the mid-term meeting will come at a later date and will likely be announced by the chairman.

But a Republican source told Fox News Digital that the convention will likely be held at the same time as the RNC’s summer meeting, which usually takes place in August.

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The rival Democratic National Committee (DNC) may also hold a midterm convention. Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital last summer that DNC ​​chairman Ken Martin and other party leaders had quietly floated the idea of ​​holding a convention ahead of the midterm elections.

Democrats held a series of midterm caucuses in the 1970s and 1980s.