Washington — Senate Republicans are assembly Wednesday to elect a brand new chief to symbolize the convention after Minority Chief Mitch McConnell — the longest serving chief within the Senate historical past — opted to step down from the submit.
Assembly behind closed doorways on Wednesday morning, the Republican senators are casting secret ballots to elect their new management, as three candidates vie for Senate Republican chief, with President-elect Donald Trump’s shadow looming over the race.
Whip John Thune of South Dakota, former Whip John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida are gunning for the highest function, having labored behind the scenes for months to win help from their colleagues. However the management race took on new that means following the 2024 elections, which noticed Republicans take management of the Senate for the 119th Congress. With Trump’s return to the White Home subsequent yr, and the likelihood that Republicans retain management of the Home, the GOP could have a unified authorities in Washington, teeing up an extended listing of legislative priorities for the brand new Senate chief to work on with Trump.
Although Trump hasn’t made an endorsement within the management race, he looms massive over the competition, weighing in with calls for for the brand new chief to hurry the affirmation of his nominees.
Even and not using a Trump endorsement, his MAGA base of supporters have made clear who they favor within the race, launching a vocal social media marketing campaign for Scott as chief in current days and warning that Cornyn and Thune would threaten Trump’s agenda.
Scott has been thought-about the underdog within the race, dealing with Thune and Cornyn, who each have years of expertise in management — however who’ve additionally been much less dependable supporters of Trump. The Florida Republican challenged McConnell for the function in 2022, when he earned simply 10 votes. Whether or not Scott’s coalition grows within the wake of Trump’s victory stays to be seen.
Vice President-elect and Ohio Sen. JD Vance can be eligible to vote as a result of he will probably be a member of the 119th Congress, albeit briefly, earlier than Inauguration Day.
A candidate wants a majority of the convention, or 27 votes, to turn out to be chief. If no candidate secures a majority on the primary poll, the bottom vote-getter will probably be dropped from the listing within the subsequent spherical.
Outdoors of the highest submit, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the GOP convention chair who was additionally initially on the shortlist for chief, introduced he would as a substitute search the whip place. And Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is looking for to chair the GOP marketing campaign arm, the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee.
