Senate conservatives have a list of initial demands for anyone seeking to replace Mitch McConnell: Commit to term limits first, renew internal committee assignments and don’t bend to Democrats even on legislation that needs to be passed approved.
That pressure has turned a willingness to work across the aisle into the highest-profile wedge issue in the race for GOP leadership as Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) fight for supporters behind the scenes.
It reflects the right flank’s growing frustration with the longest-serving Republican leader’s occasional interest in cooperating with the other side on spending, infrastructure and foreign aid — a criticism that was considered laughable just a decade ago. Few younger Republicans remember McConnell’s old reputation as the “Grim Reaper” who killed Democratic bills, or his zeal to keep Merrick Garland from a spot on the Supreme Court.
But the Republican leader has steered his conference away from government shutdowns, preferring to compromise and move on rather than see voters blame his party for the resulting mess. Conservatives in the Senate, supported by the former president Donald Trump‘s bombastic style of politics, argue that this is an outdated way of thinking.
“Compromise is not the problem,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). “The problem is where you make the deals and where you draw the line, especially when it comes to issuing bills. Yes, I have a problem with the way they are drawn.
Hardline Republicans like Lee, though in the Republican Party’s minority, oppose a more conciliatory wing of their conference that sees the Senate as a bastion of bipartisan cooperation in a fractured capital. So Lee is forcing hopeful leaders and colleagues to join a pledge to block all “political and judicial” nominees for the remainder of the term and spoil Democratic legislative priorities — tactics that the right launched after Donald Trump was convicted.
Still, many Republicans say that in a Senate where neither party has close to the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster, there are limits to how many victories they can achieve — especially in the minority.
It’s a dynamic McConnell is very familiar with.
“I read that one of my colleagues said it was my job to be in the majority position of my conference in whatever position,” McConnell said in an interview earlier this spring, discussing internal criticism of his leadership.
If that had been the case, McConnell added, “we would never have raised the debt ceiling and never would have funded the government.”
The Republican leader has also publicly and privately argued against weakening the leader’s power, including at a private conference lunch this month. He and his allies argue that conservative proposals such as term limits would hamper the leader, affecting the ability to raise money and avoid a legislative disaster.
“[McConnell] has strong feelings about the role of the leader and what is required for a successful conference,” Cornyn said, referring to McConnell’s comments during the closed-door meeting. “That’s what I concluded from that.”
Thune said McConnell conveyed his concerns to the conference and that he believes “everyone will take his advice.” Cornyn, like Scott, had agreed to put a three-term limit on the leader, while Thune has said it is worth talking about but has made no firm commitments.
Asked about the general conservative complaints, Cornyn said he is not running his leadership race through the press and declined to elaborate on how he would address bipartisanship as leader. Thune, the current Republican, said he understands his fellow senators’ perspective, but that “if there are things we need to get done, I should be able to get them done too.” Scott, who has previously challenged McConnell, said he is calling for strengthened committees and “a robust amendment process” for input on legislation.
In practice, it is almost certainly impossible to force the Republican Senate leader to get a majority of Republicans on board for any action. But day to day, some of the most incendiary people at the conference are questioning the GOP leaders’ daily strategies.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a McConnell critic, said he believes rank-and-file members are not getting enough input and claimed the current leadership likes to “stay as far away from the members as possible.”
‘Don’t listen, don’t talk to the members. Don’t listen to priorities,” he said, describing the status quo in the Senate GOP. “And try to manipulate them into doing what you want them to do. Doing.”
McConnell and his leadership team attend weekly celebratory lunches to discuss conference business, including pushing members back on legislation or other issues. And McConnell has sometimes backed away from legislation when it has lost the support of his conference, such as the recent border deal negotiated between Senate Democrats and Republicans earlier this year.
Still, McConnell critics like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said that “we have a leadership vacuum right now. We are quite rudderless.”
Johnson is among those who signed Lee’s letter promising to block Senate nominees in response to Trump’s conviction, which has become something of a litmus test among ambitious conservatives. Scott has signed on, as has Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who is vying for the third spot in the conference.
Still, several signatories to the letter have since endorsed some Biden nominees, underscoring how difficult it is for leaders to block action in a chamber that depends on frequent agreements among all 100 members.
A second Republican Senate pledge to block all judicial and U.S. attorney nominees is circulating, specifically targeting those who “have suggested that Trump’s prosecutions were reasonable.” Fewer senators have co-signed that initiative, and no leadership candidates have endorsed it.
The long list of demands coming from the right is reminding some Senate Republicans of last year’s race, in which conservatives tried to hold former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to a lofty list of promises in exchange for electing him as chairman of the House. Room. Once elected, they hoped that McCarthy would avoid cooperation with the Democrats as much as possible.
When the looming debt limit breach forced McCarthy to work across the aisle, his ouster became all but certain. The months of chaos that followed his departure left many Republicans in the House of Representatives openly ashamed of their disarray.
Some GOP dealmakers in the Senate fear they are about to perform a cover of McCarthy’s sad ballad, warning that it would be misguided to handcuff the new leader before he or she even tries to… to lead a conference.
“We will make a huge mistake if we allow a minority of our members to further weaken an already weak leader,” said Senator Thom Tillis (RN.C.). He accused some Senate Republicans of “simply not paying attention to the reality of what happened in the House of Representatives as a result.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the most bipartisan senators in the chamber, said McConnell has done “what he thinks is right.” And as for the next leader, she added: “I don’t think this will change.”
She may be right. November’s leadership election is still months away and votes will be cast privately. That means even the conference’s most vocal agitators are shielded from public scrutiny should they choose to vote for a pragmatic candidate.
Moreover, other hopeful leaders could still enter the race. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chairman of the conference’s campaign arm, remains the most prominent possible candidate. If Election Day proves fruitful for the Republican Senate, Daines could step in and make things interesting: He’s a staunch conservative who already supports a tough legislative response to Trump’s conviction.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), a combative first-term lawmaker, said he is still open to the leadership race. But as he talks to candidates, he’s looking for a change agent.
“I just want to make sure that our conference is in touch with our constituents, right? And the people who send us here want us to fight for certain things. I want our agenda to reflect that,” Schmitt said. “That will be important to whoever the next leader is.”
