Senate conservatives seek to expand power post-McConnell

Conservative Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee (Utah), Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), and Sen. Rick Scott (Florida), will be the next Senate Republican leader. He is trying to play the role of kingmaker in the battle to elect the king.

These outspoken conservatives feel largely shut out of major political and policy decisions by outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), and as he steps down, the future of the Senate Republican Conference is becoming more and more uncertain. We hope to play an important role in shaping the direction of the future. What they want is a majority in the Senate.

They are Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Missouri). They are seeking political and procedural reforms for themselves and their fellow conservatives. Ky.), have more say in conference leadership.

And they want to do everything they can to prevent the next Republican leader from wielding as much power and control over the Republican conference as Mr. McConnell has over the past 17 years.

A Republican strategist familiar with the Senate conservatives’ deliberations says the group aims to serve as a crucial voting swing bloc in the race for Senate Republican leadership. The race is expected to end up being a battle between Senate Republican Leader John Thune (SD) and Democrat John Thune (SD). former Senate Republican John Cornyn (Texas);

“From a conservative perspective, this is what they’ve been preparing for ever since Mr. McConnell said I was going to serve out the remainder of his term, and that was it. That’s their mindset,” the strategist said. said.

“There’s going to have to be a conversation between candidates and conservatives, and I don’t think John Thune or John Cornyn can take their support for granted,” the person said.

Mr McConnell has refused to reveal his future plans, sparking speculation among his colleagues that he may not run for another term as party leader.

In September, when pressed by reporters about his future plans after he trembled in front of television cameras for the second time that year, he said, “I have nothing to announce about that.”

“I intend to finish my term as party leader and I intend to finish my term as a senator,” he said simply.

Mr. Lee on Friday began offering some of the concessions he and other conservatives would like to see in the next leader.

“The next Senate Republican leader should have the confidence to relinquish discretion over committee assignments,” he wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mr. Lee’s comments come after Mr. McConnell, who last year removed Mr. Lee and Mr. Scott from the prestigious Senate Commerce Committee, after Mr. Lee supported Mr. Scott’s challenge to Mr. McConnell in the leadership race after the 2022 midterm elections. This appears to have been directed at his decision.

Conservatives were outraged by McConnell’s decision not to grant Mr. Schmidt immunity to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, since Mr. Hawley, also from Missouri, was already a member of the committee when Mr. Schmidt came to Congress. was denied qualified immunity as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

They believed the rejection of Mr. Schmidt’s request was retaliation for the Missouri freshman’s declaration during the 2022 campaign that he would not support Mr. McConnell as leader.

Lee said Friday that the next leader should not be determined by his own political ambitions when deciding who to support in the disputed Republican primary.

“The next Senate Republican leader should not fund primaries solely to ensure that future senators are personally loyal to him,” he wrote to X.

Mr. Lee and Mr. Cruz led calls for Mr. McConnell to resign during a bitter infighting among Republican senators over a bipartisan border security deal, which Mr. McConnell hailed as a success.

“I think Republican leaders should actually lead this conference and advance Republican priorities,” Cruz declared at a Feb. 6 press conference.

Mr. Scott on Friday hailed Mr. McConnell’s retirement as a “huge opportunity” to change the direction of the Senate Republican conference.

He said his conservative allies, including Lee and Johnson, will convene a special meeting to develop a mission statement that will guide the outcome of the race to replace McConnell.

“The first thing we do is have Ron Johnson and Mike Leigh and myself and a few other people do a conference call and say, ‘Hey, what do we want to be?’ I heard it,” Scott said. Kirk Shaw. ”

Scott said that as a “former businessman,” he wanted to come up with a mission statement “about what we stand for.”

And once senators debate what they stand for, he explained, the next question is, “Who do we elect for it?”

Mr. Scott said he was “seriously considering” jumping into the race to replace Mr. McConnell. He ran for the top leadership position in November 2022, but lost in a 37-10 vote.

Senate conservatives want to bring the conference more in line with House conservatives, who are more aligned with former President Trump and are pushing for deep spending cuts and ambitious policy reforms.

Senate conservatives generally respect Thune and Cornyn. However, there have been times when the two have clashed.

Thune has been running the Senate Republican Party since McConnell suffered a concussion and broken ribs last March. He served as the de facto Republican leader while McConnell was away from the Capitol for several weeks recuperating.

But Mr. McConnell’s legislative efforts have created tensions between Mr. Thune and his conservative colleagues. That was on display in last month’s heated battle over a bipartisan border security agreement, which conservatives denounced as a political “gift” to Democrats.

Cornyn is a longtime member of the Senate Administration Committee, which Senate conservatives often use on Wednesdays to discuss their priorities and grievances.

Some senators believe a partnership with Cornyn could be an advantage for conservatives because Thune is not a steering member.

But Cornyn frustrated Senate conservatives when he negotiated a bipartisan gun violence bill in 2022. In the end, a majority of the Republican conference voted against the bill, including Thune.

Mr. Thune and Mr. Cornyn have stepped up efforts in recent days to appeal to their conservative colleagues.

Mr. Cornyn supported calls by conservatives to give rank-and-file senators more say in strategic and policy decisions.

He vowed Thursday to “improve communication, increase transparency and ensure we include the expertise and input of all members.” “We will restore the critical role of Senate committees and reestablish a regular appropriations process.”

Both candidates have touted their track record of implementing President Trump’s policies in their leadership roles.

Mr. Cornyn served as the Senate’s No. 2 leader during Mr. Trump’s first two years in the Oval Office, and Mr. Thune also held the position for the first two years of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

Mr. Cornyn endorsed Mr. Trump on January 23, followed by Mr. Thune a month later.

Mr. Johnson, along with Mr. Lee and Mr. Cruz, attacked Mr. McConnell’s handover of Ukraine funds and border security deal, but acknowledged that his colleagues have been planning for the future of the Senate Republican conference after Mr. McConnell for some time. Ta.

“It’s about time to get serious about meetings. Understand ‘What are we?’ Who are we? What direction do you want this conference to take? What direction do we want to take this country? ‘And we’ll be able to communicate that to the American people,’ he said.

“I hope people welcome creating a mission statement,” he said. “I hope that leaders will come out of that process. Accept the mission statement, accept the goals and convince the members that they are fully on board with realizing them,” he said. .