Senate

Pressure grows on McConnell, Thune after Trump victory

by Al Weaver - 01/25/24 6:00 AM ET

Former President Trump’s resounding win in New Hampshire’s primary is heaping pressure on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), two Senate leaders often at odds with the former president.

Republicans in the House and Senate increasingly are coalescing behind Trump as the GOP nominee, putting the spotlight on high-profile GOP figures who have not backed the former president.

Minutes after the race was called for Trump over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an ally of McConnell’s who is a member of the Senate GOP leadership, endorsed Trump for president.

So did Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a counsel to McConnell and another member of his leadership team.

Both had previously been uncommitted in the GOP race, but they have now joined Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) in backing Trump.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters after giving a speech on the Senate Floor on Thursday, January 25, 2024. (Greg Nash)

Thune had endorsed Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who has now dropped out of the race and backed the former president. McConnell is not publicly backing a GOP candidate but has made his differences with the former president clear.

Trump supporters are raising the pressure on Haley to exit the race and for other Republicans to back Trump so the party can unify ahead of November.

“If everyone is not getting on board, you are helping the Democrats out and you’re making that calculation,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) told The Hill. “Even the folks who have wrestled and have had a shaky history with Trump need to, if we’re going to win and not be disappointed, get on board.”

Braun conceded, however, “That may be hard for some.”

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) addresses reporters after the weekly policy luncheon on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Allison Robbert)

McConnell’s relationship with Trump, or lack thereof, is no secret as the ex-president has consistently criticized the GOP leader since his 2020 reelection loss, with McConnell taking the occasional jab of his own.

The bad blood — McConnell gave a scathing address on the Senate floor after Trump’s impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 riot but did not vote to convict — has led some to question whether the Kentuckian’s reign as the longest-serving Senate party leader in history will come to an end if Trump wins a second term.

“Mitch is a pretty pragmatic guy,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who has endorsed Trump. “I think part of the question is: Can Trump work with Mitch? That might be a tougher question.”

If Trump wins and McConnell does step aside, Tuesday’s machinations could loom over the question of who will replace the GOP leader.

Some Republicans saw Cornyn’s endorsement as a move at winning the top job in the conference. Cornyn, Thune and Barrasso are known as the “Three Johns” and are seen as the leading contenders to succeed McConnell.

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One Republican senator said they saw that hypothetical battle as a true toss-up between Thune and Cornyn if Trump wins back the presidency.

Cornyn, this GOP senator said, did himself a favor with the pro-Trump crowd with his Tuesday night endorsement and has been a presence at most of the weekly Senate GOP Steering Committee lunches that include roughly 15 to 20 conservative senators, potentially giving him a leg up with that crowd.

They also noted Thune, the second-ranking Senate Republican, was an early endorser of Scott, putting him behind the eight ball with the ex-president, though he has institutional advantages that come with his leadership position. A second Senate GOP lawmaker noted Thune gets high marks for his whip operation and is considered member-centric and a good communicator to boot.

While Thune’s relationship with Trump is nowhere near as frosty as McConnell’s, he has broken with him numerous times since Trump’s 2020 loss. The South Dakota Republican drew Trump’s ire when he said that the push to overturn the electoral count in 2020 would go down like a “shot dog.”

That led Trump and his allies to attempt to find a primary challenge to the four-term senator. Thune ultimately won reelection by 43 percentage points — a larger margin of victory than South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), a top Trump ally, in the same year.

Thune on Wednesday reiterated he will support the eventual party nominee, adding that Trump seems to be on a strong path to winning a third straight GOP presidential nod after his victory in the Granite State.

“I’m interested in what the people are saying and voters are breaking heavily in his favor. He’s in a commanding position, and I’ve said all along I’ll support the nominee,” Thune said. “If he’s the nominee, I’ll do what I can to help the team win the presidency and the Senate and put an end to the Biden/Schumer agenda.”

In contrast to the very real questions about whether Trump could work with McConnell, Cramer said he did not have concerns about Trump and Thune working together if the South Dakotan ends up succeeding McConnell.

“I have no doubt he could work with him,” Cramer said of their potential pairing.

“What I don’t want to see is hostility towards our nominee,” he said, referencing his time in the House when then-Speaker Paul Ryan (R) wanted no part of Trump after the “Access Hollywood” video came out a month before the 2016 election. “My hope is and my observation of all of these leaders is that they’re pragmatic people, and at the end, they’ll get on board.”

Overall, 29 Senate Republicans are supporting Trump, who notoriously keeps a close watch on who backs his campaign.

And some Senate Republicans on Wednesday indicated they have no plans to quickly endorse — at least for now.

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) said he plans to wait until the primary is done, and he will back the eventual nominee.

Ricketts and Trump were the lead figures in a GOP primary proxy battle over who would replace Ricketts as governor. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R), the Ricketts-backed candidate, ultimately defeated Charles Herbster, Trump’s preferred choice.

Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) told The Hill his mind is unchanged and he will stay on the sidelines, while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the foremost GOP moderate, added she doesn’t ever see herself backing the ex-president.