Even as Republican senators prepare to elect Mitch McConnell’s successor as leader, there’s a debate raging among them over how much power to give the winner.
On one side are conservatives like Utah’s Mike Lee, who wants candidates for GOP leader to endorse diffusing their own authority by requiring high numbers of Republican senators to endorse critical tactical decisions. On the other side of the divide are senators like North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, who says any Republican agreeing to Lee’s demands would lose his vote for leader.