National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines, who’s hoping to flip control of the Senate next year to the GOP, is urging senators to get aboard former President Donald Trump’s effort to return to the White House.
Republicans should “rally around him as our next president,” Daines (R-Mont.) said Tuesday. “He’s going to be the nominee.”
Trump has already won the support of two-thirds of Republican senators, indicative of his juggernaut status in the primary in which he faces former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R). But about a third of the conference has previously endorsed one of his challengers or stayed out of the contest entirely.
Pressure is building on Republican holdouts to back Trump now or risk becoming a pariah in the party he has led since 2016.
Here’s who to watch:
Leadership
The highest-ranking members of the Senate GOP Conference remain on the sidelines, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
McConnell publicly broke with Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection and repeatedly bats down opportunities to praise or criticize the former commander-in-chief as the senator’s own standing in the party falters.
“I’ve stayed essentially out of it,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. “When I change my mind about that, I’ll let you know.”
Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who is widely seen as a potential successor to McConnell whenever the job of leader opens up, has also resisted joining Trump’s allies and has questioned the GOP front-runner’s strength as a general-election candidate.
Should Thune back Trump, it’ll be a sign of reluctant détente between the two men, who could be key governing partners in 2025 as the most powerful Republicans in the country.
“If he’s the nominee, I’ll do what I can to help the team,” Thune said Wednesday.
Thune may feel some pressure to endorse Trump as the other two leading candidates to replace McConnell, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), recently signed on.
GOP Women
Women in the Senate GOP leadership are weighing their options in the primary that includes Haley, who would be the first woman to lead the national Republican ticket if she wins the nomination.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, said she “likely won’t” endorse in the primary but praised Trump’s remaining rival, Haley, even after her home state of Iowa overwhelmingly supported Trump in its caucuses last week.
“She is a fabulous candidate and a great leader, but I don’t know what the polls look like going forward,” Ernst said Wednesday.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), an appropriator in GOP leadership, told Bloomberg Government on Wednesday she “might” endorse in the primary.
“I haven’t endorsed in the past in a presidential, but I think I’m considering it,” said Capito, whose state favored Trump by 39 points in 2020.
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), another veteran female senator, backed Trump only after Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.
The Swing Votes
A handful of Republican senators who have shown a willingness to work across party lines aren’t necessarily swinging to Trump.
Like Thune, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) initially endorsed Trump’s erstwhile challenger, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and hasn’t backed another candidate since.
Rounds told Bloomberg Government on Wednesday that Haley still has a chance at the nomination and that he wants to wait and see how events unfold before getting behind another White House hopeful.
“It’s a long way until the final decisions,” he said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, said he has no plans to endorse in the primary but hasn’t ruled out doing so in the future.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R) said he “probably” won’t endorse in the primary, noting his home state of North Carolina finishes voting in March.
“I have tremendous respect for Gov. Haley, I think she’d make a great president,” Tillis said. “She’s also a person of good judgment.”
The Holdouts
Some Never Trumpers remain in the Senate.
That includes Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the moderate Republican atop the Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who eschewed Trump in his re-election race after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
“I’ve never felt the need to join the establishment,” Young said Wednesday.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the most outspoken GOP Senate critic of Trump and only member of his party to vote to convict him in both trials, acknowledged the primary “pretty much concluded” with Trump in the lead. But that won’t change his view.
“I voted to convict him in the impeachment trial,” Romney told Bloomberg Government on Wednesday. “So how can I now say, ‘oh, let’s have him as president?’”
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