Conservatives look for more power in possible Senate GOP majority

Conservatives want to exert more power over the Senate GOP conference if they win back the majority in November, so that they can exert some of the same influence that the House Freedom Caucus has demonstrated over Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in the House.

Frustrated conservatives led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) are planning to hold a wide-ranging discussion next month on how to ensure the next Senate Republican leader doesn’t cut side deals with Democrats to pass measures raising the debt ceiling or approving government funding without majority-Republican support.

The effort is focused on potential reforms that would make sure the Senate floor strategy is reflective of the membership, Lee said in an interview with The Hill.

He said “anything that consolidates power in one person relative to floor strategy, messaging, committee assignments” and fundraising could be discussed for possible reform before the Senate Republican leadership election next month.

Lee, the chair of the conservative Senate Steering Committee, laid out his concerns and proposed reform in a letter to Republican colleagues this week.

“One of the fundamental issues we face is that our current processes are shutting out the people we represent. Most Americans would be shocked to learn that their senators often cannot offer amendments to legislation,” he wrote.  

The reform push was prompted by Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (Ky.) impending retirement as Senate Republican leader at the end of 2024 and the anticipation that Republicans will control the Senate in 2025 and 2026.

“For the first time in 18 years, our conference will choose a new Republican floor leader. This decision is about more than electing someone to fill that position — it is about setting the course for the Senate’s role in our nation’s future,” Lee wrote in his “Dear Colleague” letter.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ gives Republicans a 71 percent chance of winning control of the Senate next month.  

Lee says the next Senate GOP leader should propose policy goals at the start of each year that must be ratified by the broader Republican conference and should present “specific strategies for achieving Republican victories in connection with must-pass legislation.”

In other words, he and other conservatives want the next leader to lay out conservative policy goals that they will insist upon in high-stakes negotiations with Senate Democrats — and possibly with President Harris or a Democratic-controlled House — instead of drifting into last-minute compromises that don’t have the full support of the party.

And Lee says the next Senate GOP leader and whip should only take positions in support or opposition to legislation “with the support of a majority of the conference.”

House conservatives have long insisted that the Speaker follow the so-called Hastert rule, which dictates that GOP leaders not bring any legislation to the House floor that does not have support from a majority of the House GOP conference.

“The Senate Steering Committee could flex the same kind of muscle as the House Freedom Caucus and force whoever is the new leader to concede power and disburse power to the [GOP] caucus,” said Brian Darling, a GOP strategist and former Senate aide.

“If Mike Lee is successful, the Senate will get a lot better because members will be allowed to offer amendments and have debate. That will lessen a lot of the conflict,” he said. “If you get an amendment and your amendment loses, you’re not going to complain about not getting a vote anymore. … It allows senators to express themselves.”

Some senators argue that taking power away from the next leader and opening more control of the floor to rank-and-file members will create “chaos,” but Lee rejects that argument as a “red herring.”

He says debates will come to timely conclusions because senators will simply exhaust themselves arguing over amendments and will sooner or letter allow business to proceed.

“Members will self-moderate in terms of how amendments they push just based on the principle of exhaustion,” Lee told The Hill.

He said the bigger problem is not giving fellow Republican senators — and Democrats, too — a chance to fully air their views and call for a vote to put their colleagues on the record.  

Senate conservatives argue that McConnell, who has led his party for 18 years in the Senate, exerted too much control over the chamber floor, giving them little opportunity to debate their ideas in public.

“Individually, senators are incredibly powerful, and I think that respect of each individual member’s rights has been shunted to the side in this very top-down, draconian leadership style that’s developed,” said Rachel Bovard, a former Senate Republican aide. “There’s an effort to revisit, ‘What does it actually mean to be a senator?’ Because, frankly, the job isn’t very fun right now. Just being told how to vote, to show up and rubber-stamp a nominee. You don’t get amendments.”

Senate leaders in both parties often agree to bring a major spending bill or debt-limit bill to the floor shortly before a deadline

Some of them believe this has made it too easy for moderate Republican colleagues to join with Democrats to pass bills that should have been subjected to more rigorous floor debate.

In the Senate this year, a minority of Republicans — 22 GOP senators — worked with Democrats to approve $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, and last year, 17 Senate Republicans voted with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling.

The bipartisan deals on Ukraine funding and the debt ceiling were helped along by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) tight grip on floor procedure, which he has used to block votes on amendments that could have derailed the carefully crafted compromises.

“Conservatives have always been a minority in the [Senate] Republican conference but even more so you have a group of Republicans that are comfortable voting with Democrats. And that’s what you see time and time again — at least you’ve seen it in this Congress. You have 10 Republicans willing to cross over” and vote with Democrats, “even if the majority of the [GOP] conference doesn’t agree with them,” said Bovard.

Lee and other Senate conservatives hope that by forcing colleagues to vote on more amendments, they could shape big bills more to their liking.

Lee said he spoke to Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (Wyo.) recently and expects Senate Republicans to meet Wednesday, Nov. 13, to discuss proposed reforms and their broader vision for 2025.

“Even though we’re not likely to have any conference-wide conversation until after the election, it’s good to get people thinking about this sort of thing so it can help tee up the conversation when we get back,” Lee told The Hill.  

He said Republican senators are likely to vote at that same meeting to elect the next Senate GOP leader, whip, conference chair and other slots lower down on the leadership team.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) and former GOP Whip John Cornyn (Texas) are the front-runners in the race to succeed McConnell.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a close Trump ally, is also running and could see a surge in support if Trump wins the White House and decides to play in the Senate GOP leadership race.

Updated at 6:55 a.m. EDT