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FIRST ON FOX – The Republican National Committee (RNC) is taking a big step toward holding its first ever midterm meeting.
The RNC on Thursday advanced a change in the party’s rules that would allow Chairman Joe Gruters “to call a special meeting outside of the presidential election cycle,” according to a memo first shared with Fox News Digital.
National political conventions, where party delegates from around the country formally nominate the party’s presidential candidates, are usually held during presidential election years.
But with Republicans aiming to defend their narrow control of the Senate and their slim House majority in this year’s elections, President Donald Trump announced in September that the GOP would hold a meeting before the midterms “to show the great things we’ve done” since retaking the White House.
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President Donald Trump arrives to speak during the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The new memo highlights “the possibility of an America First-style midterm rally that aligns with President Trump’s vision to energize the party this fall.”
The governing party, in this case the Republicans, often faces difficult political situations during terms. And the hope among Trump and top Republicans is that the midterms will give the GOP a high-level platform to showcase the president’s record and congressional candidates running in midterms.
The rules of the RNC are based on holding a convention every four years. The proposed rule change would allow the RNC to hold a mid-year convention. If approved, the law states that the meeting 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 approved Thursday evening by the RNC’s Rules Committee during the group’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara, California.
It’s unclear whether the full RNC membership will vote on the rule change when it meets Friday for a regular confab. If the legislation is not approved by the full RNC, it is expected to be approved at the party’s spring meeting.
Republican National Committee Chairman-elect Joe Gruters speaks at the RNC’s summer meeting Aug. 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Gruters, in a statement to Fox News Digital, emphasized that the RNC’s winter meeting “shows that Republicans are fully behind President Trump and our efforts to win the midterms. The RNC has been very focused on expanding our war chest, getting out voters and securing the vote in this fall’s elections. We are building four big jobs and giving President Trump the full year needed to protect our Congress.”
Details of the date and location of the mid-year meeting will be available later and will likely be announced by the president.
But a Republican source told Fox News Digital that the meeting is likely to be held at the same time as the RNC’s summer meeting, which is usually held in August.
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The rival Democratic National Committee (DNC) may also hold a mid-year convention. Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital last summer that DNC chairman Ken Martin and other party leaders had been quietly pushing the idea of a convention before the terms.
Democrats held a number of mid-term conventions in the 1970s and 1980s.
