When former President Donald Trump lost his candidacy for re-election, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky became the most powerful Republican in Washington DC.
With the upper house divided equally between 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, McConnell, 79, who was re-elected for his seventh term last year, will certainly struggle hard to win back the majority in 2022.
However, McConnell, always a strategist, has created a list of successors if he does not fulfill his full mandate, which will end in January 2027, according to The Intercept.
Kentucky Republicans told The Intercept that McConnell’s political protégé, State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who received criticism for handling the Breonna Taylor case, is at the top of the list.
Other names on the list include former United Nations ambassador Kelly Craft and Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams.
Under current state law, Democratic Governor Andy Beshear would have the power to choose McConnell’s successor if he steps down, so McConnell is supporting new legislation that would allow the Republican Party to choose a replacement.
Senate Bill 228, which The Intercept reported was informally called “Daniel Cameron Election Bill”, would prevent the governor from independently choosing a replacement and would authorize the executive committee of the same political party as the previously elected senator to propose three possible substitutes .
The governor would then have to appoint a successor to the party’s endorsed list.
If the legislation is passed, it would prevent Beshear, who opposes the bill, from replacing McConnell with a Democratic successor.
The legislation also details when elections can take place if there is a vacancy.
State Senator Tom Buford, co-sponsor of the bill introduced by State Senate President Robert Stivers, told The Intercept that changes in Senate nominations have been commented on for “several years”.
“It seemed that if we had a change of seat of the US Senate, it would be appropriate and appropriate that the political party that held the office would be the political party that would replace him until the next electoral cycle, in this case the Republican,” he said.
McConnell’s office confirmed with The Intercept that the senator agreed to the changes.
“Leader McConnell discussed the legislation with Stivers and fully supports the measure,” said a spokesman.
Multiple sources informed The Intercept that McConnell was the catalyst for the new legislation, with “health concerns” and “the composition of the upper chamber” as some of the reasons given.
However, several Republican lawmakers, who declined to speak officially, told The Intercept that the changes were being pressed mainly for McConnell to choose his successor, with an elected official calling the bill an “emergency exit” for the senator.
The bill would have to be approved by the House and the Kentucky Senate, and the party holds veto-proof majorities in both houses.
Although McConnell has not publicly given any indication that he is stepping down, he is also entering unknown territory among the Senate’s Republican bench.
His control of the leadership remains strong, but he faces the imminent presence of Trump, whom he vehemently denounced for his role in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, despite having voted to absolve the former president of “inciting insurrection”.
Last month, Trump criticized McConnell as a “severe, sullen and serious political hack” and said Republicans “will not win again” if they continue to support him.
McConnell replied that he would “absolutely” support Trump if the former president were the Republican Party’s presidential candidate for 2024.