(Bloomberg) -- Republican senators returned to the US Capitol on Tuesday with their first consequential choice of Donald Trump’s new era in Washington hovering over them.
A week after re-claiming the Senate majority, Republicans will for the first time in 18 years elect someone other than Mitch McConnell to lead them. That decision, to be made Wednesday by secret ballot, will be an early indication whether they’ll serve as a check on — or a rubber stamp for — the president-elect.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a contender for the post, strolled through the basement, a can of sugar-free Red Bull in hand, drawing a swarm of reporters. He fended off their questions, saying he wouldn’t campaign through the media.
The Republican leader election — conducted in the ornate Old Senate Chamber — is among the ultimate Washington insider affairs. Public campaigns are typically considered gauche, with leadership hopefuls instead privately building support among their colleagues.
This year, however, has become more of a public spectacle, with Trump’s best-known supporters and some of these senators’ own constituents weighing in.
Still, most senators, who will have to turn to future party leaders for plum committee assignments and colleagues for support of pet causes, have refrained from making public endorsements.
North Carolina’s Thom Tillis only coyly said that he was voting for John, a sly nod to either Cornyn or South Dakota Senator John Thune, who is also running for the post. The Johns, as they’re dubbed, are considered the establishment favorites.
Trump’s Make America Great Again power sphere, which includes Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is pushing for Rick Scott of Florida. Scott, who received only 10 votes when he tried to unseat McConnell two years ago, embraced the MAGA endorsements and the suddenly public campaign.
“Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson are supporting me and I think they’re supporting me because they want somebody that’s going to be supportive of Trump,” Scott told reporters.
The former Florida governor hit on two of Trump’s favorite themes: Disbanding the Department of Education and railing against Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who Scott called a “$2 trillion loser” for his management of inflation and Fed assets.
Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who is closely aligned with the party’s MAGA wing, endorsed Scott.
“He’s been by Trump’s side the whole time,” Tuberville said. “They work well together, and this job is pretty much a communication from the Senate to the White House.”
With Republicans closing in on winning the House majority, Trump and his party are likely to have unified control of Washington. But even under Republican control, the Senate — with its filibuster and other arcane rules — has long been a source of frustration for the incoming president.
Trump, who has long sparred with McConnell, backed Scott in 2022 but hasn’t endorsed anyone in this race. Some Republicans gently cautioned him against an endorsement.
“I think he’s done the right thing by not weighing in,” Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota said.
Tillis, a moderate from a swing state, shrugged off the endorsements from Musk and others.
“We want to take their feedback, but at the end of the day we’re gonna determine who governs us,” he said.
Thune and Cornyn, who are both institutionalists and have served as McConnell deputies, would be expected to carry on in the long-time leader’s mold. That could create friction with the incoming White House over Ukraine aid and other spending matters. Thune, in particular, is a free trade advocate who has cautioned that Trump’s tariff proposals would drive inflation.
But both men have tried in the last year to appeal to Trump and his supporters, hoping to work together on items like extending the 2017 tax overhaul and securing the border.
Yet Thune has faced some blowback for strong criticism he leveled against Trump after the Jan. 6th, 2021, assault on the Capitol, while Cornyn has faced backlash from some gun rights advocates for crafting a compromise gun safety law with Democrats.
Thune, a former state railroad official and lobbyist, previously chaired the Commerce Committee and has long supported the ethanol industry. Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general and state Supreme Court justice, has ties to his state’s oil and gas industry.
Scott, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, has mostly served outside the Republican power structure, save for a stint as chair of the party’s campaign committee for the 2022 election.
--With assistance from Billy House.
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