The move put heir apparent KEVIN McCARTHY in a bind, with conservatives holding demands over his head and dissecting his every move for more than half a year. Every move by his would-be successors this election cycle will be scrutinized by not only their own colleagues, but also the party’s conservative base.įor us at Playbook, the dynamic is reminiscent of former Speaker PAUL RYAN’s decision to announce his retirement in April 2018 - a full eight months before leaving Congress. It’s all adding up to a turbulent next nine months - the leadership race typically takes place in late November or early December - with McConnell’s announcement serving as a starting gun for contentious jockeying. “Listen, I don’t have a favorite candidate - I’m persuadable,” Sen. This doesn’t mean Senate hard-liners aren’t open to any of the “Three Johns.” In fact, several of them said they are - if the price is right. VANCE (R-Ohio) told Burgess Everett and Ursula Perano for their look at the Senate GOP’s coming transition, “Do I think this represents a bit of a change in the guard? Sure it does.”
They’re also looking for someone who has a working relationship with Trump - a change from the famously frosty relationship between McConnell and the former president, which has been nonexistent since the Jan. SO WHAT DO THEY WANT? For starters, they’re eyeing a 180-degree pivot from McConnell’s RONALD REAGAN-esque outlook to a leader whose views reflect the more populist-nationalist wing of the Trump-era GOP. The Senate hard-liners, the person added, “recognize the influence the Freedom Caucus has because of their willingness to band together to actually sway policy - and in this case, potentially sway leadership races.” “There will be somebody else - and possibly a scenario where none of the ‘Johns’ can get consensus, so it takes another candidate to step in.” “The idea that it’s just between the ‘Three Johns’ is an outdated narrative from a year ago,” said one Republican ally of the rebels. Multiple GOP senators and aides tell Playbook that a group of about a dozen McConnell antagonists in the Senate might band together and use their numbers - along with public pressure - to install a leader more to their liking. MOVE, MITCH, GET OUT THE WAY - With longtime Senate Republican leader MITCH McCONNELL’s announcement yesterday that he’ll step down from leadership at the year’s end, Trump’s allies are eyeing a MAGA-style takeover of the upper chamber.įor months, Senate Republicans have operated on the assumption that McConnell’s successor would be one of the “three Johns” close with the current leader: Minority Whip JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.), former Whip JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) or Conference Chair JOHN BARRASSO (R-Wyo.).īut Trump allies are itching for a dark-horse candidate to shake things up, quietly complaining that any of those three would lead to more of the same.
Mitch McConnell's planned exit from Senate leadership is giving the MAGA crowd an opening to claim a new throne.