In the wake of a decisive Republican victory, President-elect Donald Trump has reshaped the stakes in next week’s contest to replace outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Three contenders—Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), former Senate Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)—are now locked in a fierce battle to determine who will guide Republicans in the Senate as the GOP majority prepares to assume power.
A leaked whip-count memo, shared by GOP sources, shows RINO Thune leading the race with 24 votes, followed closely by another RINO, Cornyn, with 18, and Scott with only 11.
Thune
- Banks
- Barrasso
- Blackburn
- Cassidy
- Collins
- Cotton
- Cramer
- Cruz
- Curtis
- Daines
- Hoeven
- Justice
- Lummis
- McConnell
- Mullin
- Murkowski
- Rounds
- Scott (SC)
- Sheehy
- Sullivan
- Tillis
- Wicker
- Young
Cornyn
- Boozman
- Britt
- Budd
- Capito
- Cornyn
- Crapo
- Ernst
- Fischer
- Graham
- Grassley
- Hawley
- Hyde-Smith
- Kennedy
- Lankford
- McCormick
- Moran
- Ricketts
- Risch
- Thune
Scott
- Hagerty
- Johnson
- Lee
- Marshall
- Moreno
- Paul
- Rubio
- Schmitt
- Scott (FL)
- Tuberville
- Vance
Trump has yet to endorse any candidate in the private vote scheduled for Wednesday, but his recent remarks on Truth Social reveal his unmistakable expectations for the new Senate leadership.
Trump stressed the need for recess appointments, aiming to expedite confirmations for key positions.
He also urged Senate Republicans to block any Democratic judge appointments during this transitional period, framing it as a decisive test of Republican resolve.
Trump wrote:
“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner. Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again. We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!
Additionally, no Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THANK YOU!”
Elon Musk weighed in on these demands from President Trump.
“Without recess appointments, it will take two years or more to confirm the new administration! This would make it impossible to enact the change demanded by the American people, which is utterly unacceptable,” Musk wrote.
Without recess appointments, it will take two years or more to confirm the new administration!
This would make it impossible to enact the change demanded by the American people, which is utterly unacceptable. https://t.co/vTZabMxR5b
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2024
Jim Hᴏft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016.
You can email Jim Hᴏft here, and read more of Jim Hᴏft’s articles here.
