After 39 years in the Senate and 18 as Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell’s retirement is creating a vacuum of power unseen in decades. While Utah Senator Mike Lee has shown little interest in taking the job, he has positioned himself as kingmaker with the ability to help broker the selection.
A letter obtained by Politico was sent by Lee inviting members of the Republican Caucus to a private forum November 12 to hear from all the parties interested in McConnell’s leadership seat. Billed as a “family dinner,” Lee announced he would not ask questions or manipulate the event, but wanted it to be a fair, open, opportunity.
While most Senators will say their attention is on the November 5th election, it appears that John Cornyn (TX), John Thune (SD) and Rick Scott (FL) are all eyeing a run for the Republican Leader post.
Lee has been a vocal leader in the Republican’s right flank, advocating for the party to take harder stances in support of Conservative policies in the upper chamber. He has also heavily criticized the way in which McConnell has run the Senate and the systems in place for managing the caucus..
“Compromise is not the problem,” said Sen. Mike Lee. “The problem is where you choose to make the deals and where you draw the line, in particular in spending bills. Yeah, I got a problem with how they’ve been drawn.”
Lee has laid out ground rules for what he expects out of the next Republican Leader including giving more time before passage of legislation to allow Senators and their staff to read the bills.
Scott, a former Florida Governor, has claimed Lee as an ally, but Lee’s latest moves reveal his desire to be seen in a more balanced position helping lay the tone of debate and discussion in the chamber.
Clint Brown of the Heritage Foundation has called on Conservative members of the Senate to use this “generational opportunity” to “end business as usual in the Senate” and bring more debate and discussion out of the closed meeting rooms and into public debate.
The vote to replace McConnell will take place November 13 within the Republican caucus.