After 18 years under Mitch McConnell’s leadership, numerous Republican lawmakers are vying to become the majority leader in the new GOP-controlled Senate. The leadership election is expected to take place on Wednesday and will be submitted via a secret ballot, meaning that senators can vote anonymously.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott — the longshot candidate who is winning support of a handful of conservative senators and MAGA influencers — is jockeying for the job. But Scott is still a significant underdog, with GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas seen as the favorites.
Here’s what to expect: The election starts at 9:30 a.m. ET in the old Senate chamber.
The races for each leadership post will be voted on in descending order. The vote for Senate Republican leader will be first.
Thune, Cornyn and Scott can receive up to two nominating speeches, and then deliver their own remarks.
Nominating speeches: Thune will receive nominating speeches from Mike Rounds, a fellow South Dakotan senator and Sen. Steve Daines, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman who helped lead the Republicans to a GOP majority last week.
Scott will be nominated by Sen. Marco Rubio, a fellow Floridian, and Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.
Cornyn’s office is not saying who will give the nominating speeches.
A GOP leadership aide tells CNN there can also be discussion about the candidates following their speeches, which could take some time.
Secret ballot: Once discussion concludes, senators will vote by secret ballot. This means no other senator, no staffer and no, not even President-elect Donald Trump will know who voted for who.
Then, Sen. John Barrasso and his team will tabulate the votes. If no candidate reaches a majority, or 27 votes, then the candidate with the least votes drops off, and they vote again between the remaining two candidates, meaning there could be multiple rounds of voting.
Senate state of play: Winning the US Senate majority is a victory for Republicans, who have been locked out of the majority in the chamber since 2021. With one race still to be declared — Pennsylvania — Republicans will have at least 52 seats in the chamber.
