Far-Right Senators Seek Rule Changes From Next Majority Leader

Senators vying to replace GOP leader Mitch McConnell face growing demands to change the way the chamber operates, injecting additional turmoil into the race that will shape what legislation the new Congress moves.

Senate Republicans will gather for a forum Tuesday night to hear from all three candidates for majority leader ahead of a secret-ballot election Wednesday morning. The forum will be held behind closed doors with only senators and staff attending.

The three GOP contenders, Sens. John Thune (S.D.), John Cornyn (Texas), and Rick Scott (Fla.), will use the forum as a last chance to outline their platforms to the whole caucus that they’ve largely pitched one-on-one to senators.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D,), (C), and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) (L) are leading contenders to be the next Senate majority leader. Above the two lawmakers along with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), at a press conference on border security on Dec. 7, 2023.

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The chamber’s most conservative senators hope to use the race to extract procedural concessions from their next leader. Their success or failure will shape how or whether Congress addresses a raft of fiscal deadlines looming next year on tax cuts, government borrowing authority, and agency funding.

Tonight’s forum is “the first chance and the last chance that we’ll have after everybody comes back” to hear pitches from leader candidates, said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who organized the event, in a recent interview. “Candidates are understandably not as inclined while we’re in the middle of an election season to be as specific as I think they will be post-election.”

Lee and other senators have been pushing leader candidates for changes to conference rules and practices that would empower more junior members who have often been sidelined during McConnell’s 17-year reign.

Lee also wants the next leader to support Senate Republicans in tough races after the McConnell-aligned super PAC stayed out of Scott and Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) successful re-election races.

Others changes pushed by the hard right have included easing up on its rigid seniority and committee assignment practices. But senior caucus and panel leadership would reject such a move as a weakening.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla,) has support of some conservatives to be the majority leader.

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Lee and Scott led a failed effort to oust McConnell in 2022 and hope his successor will be more amenable to their proposals.

“I don’t think anyone expects that anyone else is gonna be either an exact clone or or the exact polar opposite of his predecessor,” Lee said. “They’ll each take a slightly different approach than the others.”

The forum will eventually be a “harmless” effort to delay the election of McConnell’s successor and pressure Thune and Cornyn for concessions, predicted Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of McConnell’s leadership team.

But, Tillis added, “both are wise to hear their concerns.”

Musk Lobbying

Lee is aligned with Scott, who has endorsed proposals to empower senators outside of leadership to amend must-pass bills on the floor.

President-elect Donald Trump has not explicitly endorsed a candidate, but some senators could be swayed by one.

Trump allies, led by billionaire Elon Musk, have been agitating for Scott’s election, arguing Republicans’ rout gives them a mandate for more expansive changes than those promised by the current leadership team led by McConnell and Thune.

Scott quickly endorsed Trump’s demand that the Senate recess so he can temporarily stack federal agencies with appointees, bypassing the chamber’s advise-and-consent responsibilities. Thune and Cornyn have not ruled out the idea.