It took four years and an electoral defeat. But someone with real power within the Republican party faces President Trump: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and retreats.
Why it’s important: This is a preview of the power struggle that will define the Republican Party in 2021.
You’ve seen it with McConnell recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect.
- You’ve seen it with McConnell blocking Trump’s push to raise stimulus checks to $ 2,000, which would have split Senate Republicans.
- And he is seeing it now with his effort to reduce the Republican Party’s futile resistance to Congress ’certification of Biden’s victory.
Yes, but: Until now, McConnell’s strategy was battered by the chaos Trump created. Now the Senate leader, whose autobiography is called “The Long Game,” is finally able to set the course for the party.
- “McConnell is trying to regain the role he played in 2009: leader of the opposition to a new Democratic president,” said a Republican agent familiar with the leader’s thinking.
What are you thinking: According to the result of Tuesday’s qualifiers in Georgia, McConnell will have to find a way to protect – or regain – the Senate majority against Trump and his agents by promoting candidates who could win the primary but lose.
- During Trump’s presidency, notes Margaret Talev of Axios, McConnell won from an alliance that gave more than 200 judicial charges for life, including three Supreme Court justices. As a former president, Trump has more responsibility.
The summary: As of 19 days from now, McConnell is the most powerful Republican in the country.