By Mary Rooke, Daily Caller | November 11, 2024
Voters gave Republicans control of the U.S. Senate, but what the party does with its power largely rests on one anonymous vote.
Republicans are set to vote Wednesday for the next Senate Majority Leader, but their vote will be anonymous. There are currently three contenders: Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and South Dakota Sen. John Thune. The significance of the outcome of the race for Republican Senate leadership cannot be overstated.
Whoever wins the leadership position helps dictate President-elect Donald Trump’s new term. Trump needs an ally to help approve his cabinet and administrative appointments quickly so that he can deliver on the mandate voters gave him to fix the economy, illegal immigration and other issues. In the long term, the position will determine Trump’s ability to get his judicial appointments over the line and ensure legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives makes it quickly to the president’s desk. (ROOKE: Trump Is Already Having Major Impact On Issue Voters Elected Him To Fix)
There is no denying the reality that the old version of the GOP is dead. Voters no longer want a party beholden to forever wars, slow but steady illegal immigration or globalist economics. We want American workers to feel empowered and fruitful in their labor, for America’s borders to be secure and for a full stop to unlimited funding for foreign wars that enrich the military-industrial complex and send Americans to die in other countries.
It’s a new political dawn, and our elected leaders should reflect this. The D.C. political class, however, already shows signs of wanting to install a leader who will likely curtail the incoming Trump administration.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn:
Cornyn is the longest-serving senator in the race for Majority Leader, with four terms under his belt. The political landscape in Texas has changed since he came into office in 2002, and there are rumblings that he will face a pretty heated primary battle when he faces reelection in 2026. Powerful and deep-pocketed forces in Texas claim Cornyn represents a return to establishment politics and is looking for a way to end his political power.
Cornyn is a longtime ally of Leader Mitch McConnell and kicked off the 2024 presidential cycle by stating the GOP needed to look anywhere but Trump for its nominee. While he has gained a reputation in Washington as a prolific fundraiser and the Senate minority leader’s right-hand man, Texas GOP members believe that grassroots voters are tired of his seemingly “establishment” Republican views.
Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, whose name has also been floated alongside Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as a possible primary opponent to Cornyn, told the Caller in April that “it’s going to be pretty hard for him to be re-elected in Texas.”
“In our last state Republican convention, Sen. Cornyn got booed off the stage, and that’s from the grassroots,” said Miller. “They completely drowned him out. Everyone thought he was going to retire, but with this new opportunity, he’s probably rethinking that. I don’t know what his plans are. Obviously, if he gets into a powerful position, it would be hard for him not to want to be re-elected.”
“But in my opinion, it’s going to be pretty hard for him to get re-elected in Texas. Just about any statewide elected official could beat him,” Miller continued. “It doesn’t matter how much money he spends; the grassroots knows his history, and they know who the real conservatives are.”
The Heritage Foundation gave Cornyn a failing grade (35%) for the 2023-2024 current legislative session. In April 2024, Cornyn voted against the Durbin-Cramer amendment prohibiting warrantless queries of the Section 702 program. He helped pass the March omnibus bills and billions in foreign aid spending in February. Cornyn even voted against Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s amendment requiring the creation of a special inspector general to oversee all U.S. assistance to Ukraine.
At the height of the George Floyd riots in 2020, Cornyn helped stoke racial tensions in America by sponsoring the law requiring a new federal holiday: Juneteenth. He has supported amnesty for illegal immigrants and introduced in 2022 his gun control bill, which is largely what sparked his being booed at the 2023 Texas GOP convention.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune:
Thune can comfortably be characterized as an anti-Trump Republican. During the 2024 Republican primary race, he refused to endorse Trump’s candidacy, saying, “I’m hoping we have other options.”
He also urged Trump to drop out of the race and endorse former Vice President Mike Pence for president less than one month before the Nov. 2016 election, which Trump ended up winning.
Thune stated that it would be in Trump’s “best interests” to stay out of the Senate Majority Leader race by not backing any of the three candidates.
“Obviously, if he wants to, he could exert a considerable amount of influence on that, but honestly, I think my preference would be, and I think it’s probably in his best interest, to stay out of that, Thune told CNBC.
Thune generally supports removing barriers to global trade, such as tariffs, which have become a cornerstone of Trump’s economic and foreign policy plan.
His views on illegal immigration are mixed. He publicly denounced the Biden/Harris administration’s border policies but touted the disastrous border bill initially backed by Senate Republicans like McConnell and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford. The bill eventually failed to pass after Americans vocalized their strong opposition. Thune also supported amnesty for illegal immigrants in 2018 through an amendment that codified protections for those individuals covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Thune also perpetuated the falsehood that police officers died as a direct result of violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott:
Scott has recently become a very vocal proponent of Trump. Still, his record isn’t spotless. As Florida governor, Scott signed a state “Red Flag” law that infringed on the Second Amendment by raising the minimum age from 18 to 21 to buy rifles, banning bump stocks and creating a state waiting period for gun sales. His website still has a pro-red flag opinion from 2019.
However, Scott seems to have changed his tune on gun control laws, having declined to support Cornyn’s 2022 “Red Flag” bill.
“My focus is 100% on school safety & protecting our teachers & students. Taking rights away from law-abiding Americans is not the answer & nothing more than an attack on the 2nd Amendment,” Scott said.
The Heritage Foundation gave Scott a 92% passing grade for his voting record in the 2023-2024 legislative session. He voted against the massive spending bills, including billions in funding to Ukraine, and supported the Hawley amendment requiring oversight on foreign aid. Scott was also a vocal opponent of the Biden/Harris administration’s open border policies.
The members of Trump’s inner circle are supporting Scott’s bid. Lara Trump, RNC co-chair and Trump’s daughter-in-law, told Benny Johnson that Scott “would do an amazing job” as Senate Majority leader.
“We want leadership in Congress who is going to fight for the very things that the American people mandated on Nov. 5,” Lara Trump said. “Rick Scott clearly has been very loyal to Donald Trump. I think that there are a lot of folks who have been very outspoken on having him as leader there and I think that can be very impactful. But you know it’s the will of the people … and if you’re a person out there who wants to see that happen, make sure you call your senator.”
“I certainly think that Rick Scott would do an amazing job,” she added.
On Sunday, social media was in an uproar when Benny Johnson leaked the alleged internal whip count for the Senate Majority Leadership vote, showing which candidate each Republican senator supported. At the time, Thune was in the lead with 24 votes, Cornyn had 18 and and Scott had 11.
Politico reported Monday that the leak enraged Senate Republicans, who felt voters were bullying them into supporting Scott.
“The bulk of the Republican rank-and-file is not pleased. At all,” Politico reported. “We spoke with one senator who was aghast at the effort, as well as a GOP aide who said the campaign is ‘pissing off senators whose votes Rick needs’ to win. ‘Senators do not take kindly to having an army of social media trolls attack them,’ the aide texted us last night.” (Trump’s Victory Paves Path For 20 Years Of The Left Losing)
As Republican senators meet Wednesday to vote on new leadership, they are voting on more than control of the Senate. The will of the people hangs in the balance. Whomever they choose will set the tone for Trump’s new administration and decide whether or not his campaign promises will be enacted.
Mary Rooke Commentary and Analysis Writer
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