One of Mitch McConnell’s final tasks as Senate GOP leader will be to try to prevent what he sees as a dangerous weakening of the job he’s held for nearly 18 years.
McConnell has done this mostly in private. But in our most recent interview with the Kentucky Republican, he addressed one of the ongoing debates head-on — the majority leader’s ability to shut down an open amendment process on the floor.
We wanted to bring you those comments now that this has emerged as a central issue in the race to succeed McConnell, with his ally Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) firing off a letter last week taking aim at conservative hardliners’ bid for more influence.
McConnell’s view: There’s general agreement that the amendment process for the Senate floor is broken. But Republicans disagree on the reasons why.
Tillis argued it’s Republicans themselves who often prevent an open process, citing last year’s month-long slog to clear GOP objections on amendment votes for a funding bill.
McConnell noted that individual senators already have a lot of power because the Senate operates on unanimous consent, often leaving the majority leader with no choice but to shut down amendments in order to keep legislation moving forward.
Here’s more from McConnell:
McConnell implicitly warned the GOP leader candidates against making concessions in order to win votes, referencing former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s downfall.
“I want whoever has this job to have some clout,” McConnell said. “When you have narrow majorities, you’ve seen in the House what could happen. Take all the power away from the leader and what happens? Chaos.”
Where they stand: The three Senate Republicans bidding to succeed McConnell are all proposing varying degrees of changes to the leadership structure that would empower rank-and-file senators.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is proposing the most drastic weakening of the GOP leader position among the three candidates, but he isn’t likely to win.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has suggested term limits for the Republican leader — there aren’t any now — and some general changes catered to the rank-and-file. Senate Minority Whip John Thune has promised to “democratize” the Republican Conference in part by empowering committees.
But Thune, as we wrote last week, is keeping his powder dry on some of the more specific proposals being put forward by conservatives like Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Thune told us many of the concerns expressed by Lee and others can be resolved simply by the South Dakota Republican’s own “style of leadership.” Thune and Lee have met multiple times, it’s worth noting, but Thune isn’t making any public commitments on Lee’s demands.
There’s always the possibility that a dark-horse candidate jumps into the race. But barring a last-minute surprise, it’s not clear who the conference’s most conservative members will gravitate toward if Scott loses on the first ballot and they’re forced to choose between Thune and Cornyn. Both have been meeting privately with members of this key voting bloc.
Tillis told us recently he’s torn between the two and doesn’t want either to be forced to make concessions to hardliners in order to win votes.
“You could flip a coin and build an argument for either one,” Tillis said. “I’ve got to make a tough decision.”
