London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 19, 2025

Mitch McConnell wins top GOP leadership slot, with 10 splitting for Rick Scott. 'I voted for change,' Lindsey Graham said

Mitch McConnell wins top GOP leadership slot, with 10 splitting for Rick Scott. 'I voted for change,' Lindsey Graham said

The vote makes McConnell the longest-serving Senate leader in history as Democrats keep control of the upper chamber.
Republicans in the Senate voted Wednesday to have Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky remain as their GOP leader.

McConnell fought off a challenge by GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee and formally announced during the Republican lunch on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that he'd be running to replace McConnell. This was the first time McConnell had faced a challenger during his time as GOP leader.

"I welcome the contest," McConnell told reporters after Scott announced his bid.

Scott received 10 votes — including from just reelected Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — and McConnell received 37, while one senator voted present.

The vote was held behind closed doors, but several senators made their vote public, including GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of former President Donald Trump.

"I voted for change," he told reporters. "I accept the results of the conference, and I hope we can be better."

He later elaborated on Twitter.

"Congratulations to Senator McConnell on his reelection as Senate Minority Leader," Graham tweeted. "I supported and voted for a delay in the leadership election. I believe the process was rushed and a delayed vote would have done the conference enormous good in finding unanimity. At the end of the day, I voted for change."


Several Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, wanted to delay the leadership vote until after the Georgia runoff, set for December 6.

On Tuesday, Scott backer Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana told congressional reporters that he was tired of being cut out of "significant policy" talks. "I want to feel like I'm part of the process," Braun said while Scott was still pitching his leadership challenge to the GOP caucus.

After the Senate leadership vote, Scott released a statement saying that he had long "been frustrated by the broken status quo in Washington that continuously fails to deliver on its promises to the American people."

"Although the results of today's elections weren't what we hoped for, this is far from the end of our fight to Make Washington Work," he said.

During the closed-door hearing, Republican colleagues of Scott and McConnell said the two men engaged in a tense back and forth with one another.

"Sen. Scott disagrees with the approach that Mitch has taken in this election and for the last couple of years, and he made that clear and Sen. McConnell criticized Sen. Scott's management of the NRSC," Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told reporters, according to CNN.

Scott and McConnell butted heads in the lead-up to the 2022 midterms, with Scott pushing for Republicans to release an agenda that would show voters how Republicans planned to deliver for them if they won. On his own, Scott released a 12-point plan that President Joe Biden repeatedly bashed during speeches.

Many Republicans distanced themselves from the plan, and McConnell has blamed "candidate quality" as a factor in why the party lost the majority on Election Day. Scott called the GOP results a "complete disappointment."

Earlier this month during an interview with Fox News host Martha McCallum, Scott denied rumors spread by Trump that Scott "hates" McConnell.

"I don't dislike anybody. I mean, I have my beliefs about, you know, what I'd like to accomplish up here, but I don't dislike people," the senator responded with a chuckle.

Republicans have the opportunity to gain some leverage if they win the Georgia runoff. Such an outcome would result in a 50-50 Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to break the tie in favor of Democrats during voting.

McConnell told reporters on Wednesday that he and Senate Minority Whip John Thune addressed complaints during a Wednesday morning huddle from rank-and-file members who felt left out of day-to-day deliberations.

"Any five of us can call a caucus to discuss any particular issue. So we acquainted our members with the tools they have," McConnell told reporters at the US Capitol, adding, "I think that'll be used more often. I certainly welcome it."

When pressed by reporters about whether he would be fine-tuning his management style to show the 10 defectors that he'd gotten their message loud and clear, McConnell pushed back.

"There's nothing to negotiate," he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
×