Connect with us

Politics

REPORT: McConnell’s Likely Senate Leadership Successor Revealed

Published

1 year ago

on

Republicans are fretting about who may replace the ailing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) if he ultimately becomes unable to fill his post through the remaining three years of his term.

Chatter inside the beltway reported on by Henry Rogers, the Daily Caller‘s top congressional reporter, speculates that some of the top contenders to replace the 81-year-old include two of his deputies. While no one is expected to challenge Sen. McConnell before the end of his term in 2026, current and former Senate staffers say the guard rails are being laid to keep the caucus in line without him.

“The alternative is really just a look-a-like in Cornyn or Thune. My understanding is that Thune is likely to really inherit the McConnell infrastructure and he seems to be the one that is likely to get it. At some point when McConnell does leave, in some form or fashion, I don’t think Cornyn is without a shot. I think he has a chance but I don’t see anybody else. I don’t see a viable outsider alternative coming into play,” a former Senate Chief of Staff told the Caller of Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota.

“I put the Senate maybe into three camps. So, there are strong McConnell allies. There are the people who don’t like McConnell and voted against him and are actual outsiders and there’s the folks in the middle. Frankly, a plurality of them were indifferent to McConnell, but afraid of their own shadow and will always support McConnell or whoever is the leader. There’s a process, if you will, and that is very likely to stay the same,” the former Senate Chief of Staff continued.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), a frequent critic of McConnell who previously challenged him for the post, is not in the mix this time, the source added.

“I don’t think anyone is actually going to step up. Rick Scott stepped up, to his credit, but even if you had maybe someone who was more associated with the MAGA-Right or the populist realignment, I still don’t think it will make a difference because of that plurality people who don’t really do much, but always are willing to support the leadership and always support the establishment.”

By comparison, Sens. Thune and Cornyn already carry out many of the leadership duties when McConnell is unwell.

free hat

“Thune and Cornyn are seen as the most natural successors. Right? Because they’re kind of doing the job right now to be totally candid. And Cornyn, you know has been in leadership. But I don’t think I don’t know that the field will be limited to just those two. I think there are a lot of senators I mean, this will be the first leadership election in 16 years,” the Senate aide said.

Consternation about the GOP’s future in the nation’s most exclusive club has reached a fever pitch following the second instance of the Kentucky senator freezing mid-speech at a public event. Although a Senate physician has cleared McConnell of any medical ailments that would prevent him from carrying out his functions, some can’t help but wonder if the incidents are remnants from a brutal spill he took down a set of stairs at the Washington, D.C. Astoria Hotel earlier this year. He has faced calls at home to resign as well as from former President Donald Trump.

The majority of the caucus has stood by McConnell, where senators on both sides of the aisle are loathe to criticize colleagues for their age lest the tables be turned on them later. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is so far the only Republican in the caucus to call for McConnell to step down.

“If you’re concerned about the president’s ability to do his job and I am, and a lot of Republicans say they are, then you’ve got to be concerned when it’s somebody of your own party,” Hawley told reporters Wednesday.

WATCH:



Related Topics: