Leading the Caucus
Mitch McConnell indicated earlier this year that he would leave his position as GOP leader in the Senate after this year. That led to jockeying for position behind the scenes, with three Republicans declaring their intention to succeed the Kentucky Republican—John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, and Rick Scott of Florida.
Scott is locked in a tight re-election battle in a state about to get hammered by a second major hurricane in two weeks. Depending on how Florida voters feel in a few weeks, it may be a two-John race.
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley told me on the radio that he has spoken to all three current candidates and told them each that they are friends…and that none of the three will know who he votes for when the time comes.
As scooped by a Politico reporter, earlier this week, Utah Sen. Mike Lee submitted a set of proposals for overhauling the GOP Senate Caucus. Politico says it’s more about procedure than policy but stands out as an attempt by Lee and about a dozen conservatives he informally leads to have an impact on how things turn out.
The idea is that the block might swing to one leader candidate or another depending on how many of their demands that candidate signs off on.
Politico notes this sounds very much like all the side deals Kevin McCarthy had to cut to win the Speaker of the House gavel…only to lose it nine months later with nothing to show for it but a nameplate.
But there is a difference. This is a closed caucus and a secret vote—that’s nothing nefarious, Democrats do the same thing. But it means it’s not a vote on the floor of the House before a national television audience munching popcorn and counting votes. And it’s easier to get to a majority of a 50-or-so-member caucus than 218 out of 435 House members.
Still, the action is noteworthy as the to-this-point rather quiet battle starts to heat up.
