WASHINGTON — A looming battle among Senate Republicans over who to choose as their next majority leader is turning into an early test of how much power newly elected President Donald Trump’s “MAGA” movement will wield in his second term.
In the three-way battle to replace retiring Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., faces Sen. John Cornyn, a former McConnell deputy, and underdog candidate Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.
The fight will gauge the staying power of veteran Republicans grounded in a Senate institutional position, like Thune and Cornyn, versus an emboldened pro-Trump wing that wants to destroy all vestiges of the old Republican Party if he returns to power .
Scott is seeking to claim this final mantle, telling NBC News in an interview Monday that he will push “the Trump agenda” if elected.
“I talk to all my colleagues and they are clear about what they want and know that we have to change. They want to be treated as equals, want to be part of a team. They know that I have a good relationship with Trump and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and that I am a businessman. And I will get the Trump agenda done,” Scott said.
MAGA influencers online have launched an online pressure campaign to sink current and former McConnell delegates — and give Scott a boost — ahead of a candidates forum on Tuesday and expected behind-closed-doors elections on Wednesday.
Right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson said Scott is the “only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump” and claimed the other two contenders “hate Trump and what he ran against.” (Thune and Cornyn have been critical of Trump in the past, but both supported Trump this year.)
Billionaire Trump benefactor Elon Musk, too endorsed Scott said Monday: “The new Senate majority leader must heed the will of the people.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of Trump’s top allies on the Hill, encouraged senators to choose Scott for the job. “The Republican conference should elect a leader who represents the people, and not in the same good way it has been done for decades,” Greene said in a statement to NBC News.
But it is far from clear that the campaign will succeed. The Senate is a famously insular body that is relatively aloof from populist zeal, gives its members six-year terms and generally operates on the basis of seniority. It would be unusual for Scott to pass over two colleagues who have served much longer, built deeper relationships and each paid their dues in pursuing the job.
Most importantly, the elections will take place by secret ballot. Unlike votes on legislation and appointments – as well as the vote for Speaker of the House of Representatives – votes for Senate leadership are anonymous. That means relationships will be paramount and the online pro-Trump army won’t know how its members voted.
“It’s a loud online presence that ultimately doesn’t translate into votes in the Senate,” said a Republican Senate aide, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the dynamics of the race. “And senators are reacting negatively to this.”
Most notably, Trump himself has failed to make an impact, as all three candidates seek to demonstrate their pro-Trump bona fides.
Scott called Trump in May to ask for his support in the leadership race, which he said he would appreciate. His goal is to pressure Trump to announce his support before Wednesday’s election, according to two people with knowledge of his thinking.
In interviews since Election Day, Scott said he and Trump have communicated via text message.
But Scott was coy when asked by NBC News on Monday whether he thinks he has Trump’s support.
“I welcome everyone’s support. He supported me against Mitch McConnell in 2022,” Scott said.
When asked if he is seeking the president-elect’s approval, the senator said, “I’m not going to talk about private conversations.”
‘Thune’s race to lose’
Scott is less popular among his peers than Thune and Cornyn; in 2022, he received just 10 votes when he unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for the top job.
Thune and Cornyn have good relationships as leaders at the conference and have both donated time and money to help elect the new Republican majority this year.
“It’s Thune’s race to lose,” said Mike Davis, a combative Trump ally who previously served as a top aide for Senate Republicans.
But Davis said the price of admission for that job will be to advance Trump’s agenda.
“Senate Republicans – and especially Senate Republican leaders – must understand that the American people put President Trump back in the White House with his America First agenda. And any Republican leadership candidate who disagrees should step aside,” he said.
Scott, who just won a second six-year term, said in an interview that his victory in Florida shows that Republicans do not need to moderate their positions.
“We never softened our positions and we kept winning,” Scott said in an interview Friday. “If you look at the country now, we are the center of the Republican Party. … The whole country is coming our way.”
Even before last week’s election, Scott had tried to build a bridge between House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his Senate Republican conference, pushing Mitch McConnell out of relevance. And with Republicans on track to hold on to a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Scott sees his connection to the Louisianan as an advantage in the leadership race.
A handful of sitting senators have publicly endorsed him: Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. Some of them, like Rubio, Hagerty and Tuberville, have been proposed for senior positions in the Trump administration.
And of the three senators in the running to succeed McConnell, Scott was the only one to do an interview on the Sunday shows this weekend, where he touted his “close relationship” with the speaker during a Sunday interview on Fox News.
The interview and online MAGA campaign were deliberate steps to sow an outpouring of support for the newly re-elected Floridian and to put pressure on Thune, who is considered the front-runner.
Trump has made one public demand: The next GOP leader should support his ability to make “recess appointments” to install temporary staff without Senate confirmations.
“I have listened intently to my colleagues for eight months about their vision for the next chapter of the Senate Republican Conference, especially as we launched with President Trump,” Thune said in a statement to NBC News. “One thing is clear: we must act quickly and decisively to get the President’s Cabinet and other nominees in place as quickly as possible so they can deliver on the mandate we must deliver, and all options are on the table to do that to achieve. happen, including break agreements. We cannot allow Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats to block the will of the American people.”
Cornyn vowed that if Democrats block Trump’s nominees, “we will remain in session, including on weekends, until they relent. Furthermore, the Constitution expressly grants the president the power to make recess appointments.”
Scott, meanwhile, responded to Trump on X: “100% agree.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
