WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans will meet behind closed doors Wednesday to choose a new leader split the party and pitted a candidate backed by vocal MAGA allies of President-elect Donald Trump against two long-serving senators with institutional knowledge and deep connections within the body.
In a three-way race, incumbent whip Sen. John Thune of South Dakota; John Cornyn of Texas, former whip; and Rick Scott of Florida, an unusual candidate who won a second term. After Congress returned from a long recess, Senate Republicans held a candidate forum on Tuesday evening.
A secret ballot is scheduled for Wednesday morning; current and newly elected senators will be able to vote, and it is unclear who will win. Only a few members have said how they will vote, with most keeping their cards close to the vest. If no one gets a majority on the first ballot, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the top two face off on the second ballot.
The winner will succeed the Republicans as majority leader for the next two years took control of the Senate in the elections. The winner will replace Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky He resigned from the party leadership after 18 years of power this made him the longest-serving leader in Senate history.
First elected during the George W. Bush presidency, Thune and Cornyn are from the institutionalist wing of the GOP and have worked their way up the ladder. Both have longstanding ties within the conference, and each can claim to be next in line, having served as the No. 2 Republican for six years.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, RSD, said he voted for Thune, but acknowledged there was “very little” difference between him and Cornyn. “Even though Cornyn told me yesterday … people say they’re mirror images of each other. I say John Thune would be offended by that,” Cramer said.
“I think at the end of the day, Thune still wins,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a Trump ally who supports Thune.
Thune, for his part, said after the meeting: “We feel good about where we are, but you never know until the voters vote.”
Colleagues see Scott, who was first elected in 2018, as more of a divisive figure, and he has been a staunch critic of McConnell for years. He aligned firmly with the party’s MAGA wing and secured some endorsements for the job from Trump allies, including right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, billionaire philanthropist Elon Musk and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
“I think I’m uniquely positioned to really help make Trump’s agenda happen … I’m optimistic that I’m going to win. I’m talking about the things that people say they care about, and that’s why we’re going to do that,” Scott told NBC News on Tuesday. .
But Trump, in particular, did not care. His ability to anoint a leader of his choice is hampered by a secret ballot, meaning he won’t know which senators don’t support his pick or punish them politically.
All three candidates are running on promises to carry out Trump’s agenda, a clear point of agreement between them.
Thune and Cornyn tout their fundraising skills and donations to help their colleagues win elections.
“As Congress returns to Washington, we must prepare the Senate to move forward.” [Trump’s] legislate and ensure that the president-elect can get to work with his appointees as soon as possible.” Thune wrote In an article for FoxNews.com. “The majority of Senate Republicans will work with President Trump to ensure that the Senate calendar allows us to confirm his nominees and advance our shared agenda as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
In a letter to Senate Republicans on Tuesday, Cornyn wrote, “To Make America Great Again, We Must Reengineer the Senate,” and he pledged to decentralize power.
“To that end, we will reinvest in the Senate committee process to drive an aggressive legislative agenda that protects our border, reduces federal spending, strengthens our economy, unlocks the nation’s energy potential, and reverses bad Biden-Harris policies,” Cornyn said. “Our default position on legislation under consideration at the Center will be an open amendment process managed by committee chairs to allow amendments and enhance debate.”
As part of the leadership shakeup, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming is running unopposed for the No. 2 majority whip position. And there’s a battle for the No. 3 slot between Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa.
Asked if he believed Cotto’s team had the votes, Ernst said he wasn’t so sure.
“Kamala Harris thought she got the vote, too,” Ernst said.