1 week Ago By Jack Phillips
President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday publicly offered at least one condition for the next Republican Senate majority leader: they must agree to make recess appointments for Trump administration officials. He noted that such votes can take “two years or more,” which is “what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again.” “We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote.
Aside from the request, Trump also said that Republicans should not confirm any judges in the coming months before his inauguration “because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership,” adding that “THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.” Republicans last week took control of the Senate and are projected to keep their majority in the House, producing a full sweep of GOP power in Congress alongside Trump in the White House. This Republican trifecta in Washington could make it easier for the Trump administration to execute its agenda.
McConnell is stepping aside from the post in January after almost two decades as leader. The winner for succession could steer the direction of the party for years to come. Whether Trump endorses one of the contenders could become a determining factor.
“I don’t know what he’ll do,” Cornyn said of Trump in September. “But this is obviously an election between senators, and I think that’s where the voters are.” So far, Trump has not publicly weighed in on any of the leading Senate majority leader candidates.
Last week, Thune told CNBC that he noted Trump could “exert a considerable amount of influence” but suggested the president-elect “stay out of that.” “My preference would be, and I think it’s probably in his best interest, to stay out of that. These Senate secret ballot elections are probably best left to senators, and he’s got to work with all of us when it’s all said and done,” Thune said.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has endorsed Scott, told conservative podcast host Jesse Kelly that he wants Trump to intervene in the Senate GOP leadership race in order to get his agenda passed in Congress.
“We need outside-the-box, paradigm-shifting-type thinking in the United States Senate and, working with President Trump, he’s going to need somebody like Rick Scott,” the senator continued, adding that Trump should “come out and endorse Rick Scott publicly—it’s probably what Rick’s going to need to become the majority leader.”.
