In February of 2024, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the longest serving Senate Leader in history, announced that he would not serve another term as party leader for Senate Republicans.
While many such as Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) and President Biden congratulated McConnell for his service, others see an opportunity for fresh leadership in the Republican party, as more conservatives call to move away from the establishment and ineffective moderates.
Now, three contenders are currently in the running for Senate Majority Leader, of which the Republican members of the Senate will vote on on Wednesday: Rick Scott of Florida, John Thune of South Dakota, and John Cornyn of Texas.
Of these, Rick Scott is the best option, by a long shot.
With President-elect Trump set to take office in January, he will need strong support from congress to enact policies such as securing the border and restoring the Trump Tax Cuts. Scott has already pledged to support Trump’s agenda, and has gained the endorsement of prominent conservatives and Trump allies, such as Elon Musk, Robert Kennedy Jr, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), and Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). “I got our budget under control as Florida’s Governor, I’ll do it as Majority Leader,” Scott pledged on X.
Meanwhile, both Senators Thune and Cornyn have records of opposition to Trump’s policies. Cornyn previously stated that Trump “could not win” the 2024 Election because he wasn’t “electable” and endorsed Florida governor Ron DeSantis in the primaries. Thune called for Mike Pence to replace Trump on the Republican ticket in 2016, and his daughter ran a Political Action Committee “The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers” that donated money to top Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Jon Tester, and Sherrod Brown (the latter two were targeted by and lost re-election to Republicans this year). Both Cornyn and Thune remained silent when a liberal judge in Colorado attempted to take Trump off the ballot in December of 2023, and both supported giving more funds and aid to Ukraine. Neither attempted to stop the massive spending bills that have plunged our country further into debt. The same donors that backed Nikki Haley’s primary challenge against Trump also back Cornyn and Thune.
If the Senate is to get anything done this term, they need a leader who will not bow to foreign leaders or to the party across the aisle. They need an effective leader who gets things done, and isn’t sidetracked by outside money and private incentives. We need a leader that will work with Trump to fix our broken economy, secure the border, and guarantee us safety again.
So contact your GOP senator today, and get them to vote for Scott on Wednesday. His leadership will be crucial if Congress is to be effective in Trump’s term.
James Cowart
Signal Mountain