Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, speaks with reporters inside the U.S. Capitol after returning from a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.  (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday tripped and fell after a GOP lunch, sprained his wrist and sustained a small cut on his face, his office said in a statement.

The Kentucky Republican is doing fine, and after receiving medical attention, “has been cleared to resume his schedule,” his office said in the three-sentence statement read to reporters.

McConnell, 82, is a polio survivor, and has tripped in the past.

The incoming Senate GOP leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, said that McConnell was “fine” and deferred all other questions to McConnell’s office. 

U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  Thune was elected majority leader for the Congress that convenes in January. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans huddled behind closed doors Tuesday to plot the path forward for the unified control of government they won in the November elections, though GOP senators said afterward a very narrow House majority will likely determine how sweeping their policy proposals will be.

Republicans are planning to use the complicated budget reconciliation process to address immigration and energy in one bill before turning their attention to taxes later next year in a separate bill. The specifics of those measures or how they might affect policy are not yet clear.

That budget reconciliation process will allow the GOP to get around the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate that typically forces bipartisanship on big-ticket items. Reconciliation is generally used when one party controls the House, Senate and the White House, since it requires a majority vote in each chamber.

With House Republicans’ majority dropping to just 220 seats during the upcoming session of Congress, there will be very little room for GOP lawmakers in that chamber to vote against reconciliation bills, since Democrats are not likely to be included in negotiations or to vote for the final versions.

GOP leaders will also be down a seat from the beginning since former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned to focus on his confirmation process for attorney general before dropping out, isn’t planning to take his oath of office.

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, nominated for United Nations ambassador, and Florida Rep. Michael Waltz, who will become Trump’s national security adviser, are expected to resign from Congress early next year, leaving GOP leaders down three slots until special elections are held. That would make for a 217-215 split.

Those extremely narrow margins could throw the chamber into gridlock if Republicans lawmakers miss a vote or are absent due to illness. There’s even a scenario where Democrats could have more votes on the floor than Republicans if several of their members are out.

The last time Republicans held unified control of Congress and the White House in 2017, when they passed their tax package via reconciliation, they held 241 House seats, a significantly wider margin than they’ll have next year. 

Thune says options presented

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who will become majority leader in January, said lawmakers are working through “how best to maximize the opportunity we have through reconciliation to achieve a lot of the president’s and our objectives and things that he campaigned on.”

“And, you know, there obviously is the tax piece, but we’ve got until the end of the year to do that,” Thune said, referring to 2025. “So the question is how do we execute on using the opportunity of reconciliation.

“So we presented some different options, all of which our members are considering. And so, you know, we’ll see in the end where it lands but we’ve got to work with the House of Representatives and with obviously incoming President Trump to get the best path forward.”

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said Republicans still have a lot of work to do ironing out the details of the two packages, given the narrow margins for passage.

“If you take a look at the priorities of one end of the spectrum for the House caucus and the other end on border, there’s some reconciliation, pun intended, that needs to be done before reconciliation,” Tillis said.

House Republican leaders have struggled at times during this Congress to keep centrist GOP lawmakers and far-right members both supportive of large-scale policy bills. Adding in proposals or amendments from one side meant the GOP often lost votes from the other, forcing leaders to constantly walk a metaphorical tightrope when drafting legislation.

Republicans could have a more narrow House majority during the next Congress, likely causing headaches for leadership as they hold “family discussions” on the reconciliation bills.

Johnson stops by Senate GOP huddle

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., attended the Senate Republican meeting as the two chambers work to stay on the same page heading into January.

“I think we’re pretty unified on where we want to go. It’s just getting there,” she said. “You know, the devil’s in the details.”

Capito, who will become Republican Policy Committee chair next year, said election results sent a clear message to the GOP about what policy changes Americans expect to see during the next two years.

“What the voters are telling us they want us to do is very clear in some ways,” Capito said. “And we can go through the clearest ones first.”

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who will become the first Republican woman to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee next year, cautioned the reconciliation process requires a lot of coordination and planning.

“Reconciliation is extremely complex, as those of us who have been through it before know,” Collins said. “And I think we’re going to have a very busy beginning of the year, which is why I’d like to see the disaster supplemental pass before we leave here for Christmas.

“And I would also still argue that it would be important to try to finish up the FY 25 appropriations bills. I realize that’s going to have to go into January at this point. But I’m still hoping we don’t go into March, because with reconciliation coming down the pike, the president’s new budget, which is due the first Monday of February, also coming at us, there’s going to be a ton of work to do.”

Delayed spending bills

Congress was supposed to complete work on the dozen annual government funding bills by Oct. 1, but instead relied on a stopgap spending bill to extend the deadline until Dec. 20.

Since they haven’t made any real progress on the full-year bills, congressional leaders are now debating how long a second continuing resolution should last.

That appropriations work will likely pile up at the beginning of next year, overlapping with Republican efforts to push through their first reconciliation package before turning their attention to the second one.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said he’s confident House GOP leaders will be able to whip the votes necessary amid another razor-thin majority to approve the two reconciliation packages next year.

“We need to show that we’re recognizing the mandate of the last election, and have something smaller and hard-hitting before we take on the big issues,” Grassley said.

House Republicans, he said, “know there’s a mandate to deliver on. And they know that they better deliver.”

‘We have a directive from the American people’

Alabama GOP Sen. Katie Britt said Johnson will be able to keep the centrist and far-right members of the House Republican Conference united as details emerge in the weeks and months ahead about how exactly the two reconciliation packages will change policies.

“We know we have a slim majority in the House, but Speaker Johnson is aware of that,” Britt said. “And I think that they will work through issues over there, because we know that we have a directive from the American people to actually get things done. And I think that that’s what we’re unified to do.”

Asked about the narrow margins Republicans will have, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said “hopefully, this will all be things that we can form consensus on.”

“It’s what President Trump ran on and we’re going to try and, obviously, pass his agenda,” he said.

Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, a Republican, said their timeline is “as soon as possible” but that they’ll have to wait.

“It’s going to be a lot going on, but the budget is number one — we have to do that to start the process, and then just as quickly as possible,” Boozman said.

Congress must adopt a budget resolution in order to unlock the reconciliation process. That tax and spending blueprint is not a bill and does not become law. Instead, it sets Congress’ goals for the 10-year budget window.

In order to actually fund government departments and agencies, Congress must pass the dozen appropriations bills, which they’ve mostly ignored for the last several months.

Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, speaks during a press conference inside the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)   

WASHINGTON — Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced Thursday he’ll become chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Rules Committee when the new Congress convenes in January. 

“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War,” McConnell wrote in the announcement. “At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy.”

Maine Sen. Susan Collins currently holds the top Republican slot on the Defense Subcommittee, which drafts the Pentagon’s annual spending bill, worth $825 billion.

Collins is expected to become chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee next year and McConnell said in the statement he looks forward to working with her “to accomplish our shared goal.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday if Collins would become chairwoman of one of the Appropriations Committee’s other 11 subcommittees.

Current Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., not only leads the full panel but is also chairwoman of the Energy-Water Subcommittee, for example.

McConnell will also take over the Senate Rules Committee, one of the oldest panels in the chamber that holds a broad jurisdiction.

“Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities,” McConnell wrote in his statement. “Ranking Member Deb Fischer has done an outstanding job advancing these causes, and I know she will remain a key partner in the committee’s ongoing work.”

Nebraska Republican Sen. Fischer secured reelection this year against a closer-than-expected challenge from an independent candidate in the Cornhusker State.

Thune taking over from McConnell

McConnell remained an active member of both the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Rules Committee after he became Senate Republican leader in 2007.

He’s stepping aside from that leadership role when the new Congress begins in January but will remain a member of the Senate.

Senate Republicans elected South Dakota’s John Thune to become the majority leader once they take over control of the upper chamber in January after flipping four seats in this year’s election.

McConnell is up for reelection in 2026 and hasn’t said yet if he’ll seek another six-year term in the Senate or opt to retire.

McConnell, 82, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. 

U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota,. arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.  Thune was elected to be the majority leader in the next session of Congress.  (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Wednesday elected their leadership teams for the next Congress, opting for a new slate in the Senate while reelecting many of the same lawmakers in the House.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune will become that chamber’s next majority leader, marking the first time since 2007 that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell hasn’t held the top GOP slot after choosing to retire from leadership.

Thune defeated Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott during the closed-door, secret ballot. 

“We’re excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President (Donald) Trump’s agenda,” Thune said during a press conference. “We have a mandate from the American people — a mandate, not only to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda, but also to deliver on President Trump’s priorities.”

Thune said border security, deregulation and energy policy would be among the top policy areas GOP senators pursue once the new Congress begins.

He also pledged to “be a leader who serves the entire Republican Conference” and noted the GOP has “an ambitious agenda that will take each and every Republican working together” to achieve.

More new GOP leaders

Senate Republicans also elected a new slate of new leaders during the Wednesday elections, all of whom will take on their new roles in January.

Wyoming’s John Barrasso, who ran unopposed, will become the assistant majority leader next Congress, holding the No. 2 slot in the Senate that was previously referred to as the whip.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton defeated Iowa’s Joni Ernst for the No. 3 leadership post of conference chair.

West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito was elected as the Republican Policy Committee chair, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford received his colleagues’ backing for conference vice chair, and South Carolina’s Tim Scott will become the next chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Trump made demands of the next Senate Republican leader ahead of the election, writing on social media that whoever is chosen should recess the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process.

Thune said during the press conference Wednesday the Senate would work quickly to vet and confirm Trump’s nominees, but didn’t fully commit to recessing the chamber for the 10 days minimum that’s required for recess appointments.

“What we’re going to do is make sure that we are processing his nominees in a way that gets them into those positions, so they can implement his agenda,” Thune said. “How that happens remains to be seen.”

“Obviously, we want to make sure our committees have confirmation hearings, like they typically do, and that these nominees are reported out to the floor,” Thune added. “But I’ve said this, and I mean it, that we expect a level of cooperation from the Democrats; to work with us to get these folks installed. And obviously we’re going to look at, explore all options to make sure that they get moved and get moved quickly.”

Building trust

South Dakota GOP Sen. Mike Rounds said after the election that Thune was able to secure the votes needed to win after spending years building trust.

“For a lot of people, it was that sense of comfort with John Thune of being able to represent what we believe — the fact that they knew that they could go to him and talk to him privately, and that he was not going to be doing this as ‘I’m going to tell the conference what to do,’ but rather, ‘We’re going to, as a conference, move forward, and we will find consensus as we do it, because we need everybody to support the vast majority of the things that we’re going to get done,’” he said.

Rounds, an early backer of Thune in the race, said his fellow South Dakota senator voted in support of Trump’s policies “more than 90% of the time when he was in office.”

South Dakota veteran lawmaker

Thune, 63, was elected to the Senate in 2004 after spending six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He currently holds the title of Republican whip, but has done stints as Republican Conference vice chair, Republican Policy Committee chair, Republican Conference chair and chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Thune has given dozens of floor speeches and press conferences during his time in the Senate, but highlighted his support for bipartisanship in April 2021, applauding Democrats, who were in the majority, for working with the GOP on legislation.

“The Senate was designed to promote moderation and consensus. It was intended to be a check on the more partisan — or as the founders would put it, factious — House of Representatives,” Thune said during a floor speech. “The Senate fulfills its constitutional role best when it engages in serious, bipartisan consideration and negotiation and ensures that members of both parties are heard.”

He then pressed lawmakers from both parties to adopt that framework to negotiate infrastructure legislation in the months ahead.

Control of Congress and White House

Thune will have to break from those beliefs a bit during the next two years as Republicans use what is expected to be unified control of government to move through as much conservative legislation as they can via the complex budget reconciliation process.

That legislative pathway will allow Republicans to get around the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster, which typically forces bipartisanship on major legislation.

The GOP used the process to try to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during the first Trump administration, but were unsuccessful. Republicans were able to use it to enact the 2017 tax law.

Democrats used budget reconciliation to approve a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package and their signature climate change, health care and tax package called the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, during the first two years of President Joe Biden’s term.

Thune expressed frustration during his April 2021 floor speech that Democrats had used the process to avoid negotiating with Republicans senators on those two laws.

“Our Founders established a democratic republic instead of a pure democracy because they wanted to balance majority rule with protection for minority rights. They knew that majorities could be tyrants, so they wove protection for minority rights into our system of government,” Thune said at the time. “The Senate was one of those protections. That is why we should be preserving rules like the filibuster, which ensures that the minority party and the many Americans it represents have a voice in legislation.”

House Republican leaders

In the House, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana received his party’s nomination for speaker for a second time, but he’ll need to secure the votes to hold the gavel in the 119th Congress during a floor vote in January.

Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise was reelected as House Republican leader and Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer secured the votes needed to continue as the whip. Both ran unopposed.

Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain will become the Republican Conference chairwoman, succeeding New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, whom President-elect Donald Trump has said he’ll nominate as ambassador to the United Nations. McClain defeated Florida Rep. Kat Cammack for the role.

Indiana Rep. Erin Houchin will become conference secretary. Utah Rep. Blake Moore will become conference vice chairman. Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern will become policy chairman. And North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson will remain chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for another two years.

Johnson said during a press conference after the closed-door elections that the GOP was ready to begin passing legislation as soon as the new Congress begins on Jan. 3.

“I know you’re all tired of hearing my football metaphors, but we have a very well-designed playbook. We will begin to execute those plays with precision on day one,”

Emmer signaled the potential speed bumps ahead during that press conference, referencing some challenges the GOP has faced with small margins in the House during the last two years.

“As the 118th Congress proved, it may not always be smooth sailing, and we may have some disagreements along the way, but I’ve always been a firm believer that there’s more that unites us than divides us,” Emmer said. “So long as we work together as a team, I have no doubt we will seize the opportunity in front of us.”

Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.

Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, joined by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, left, speaks at the Capitol on Sept. 29, 2021, in Washington, D.C.  Thune and Cornyn, along with Florida Sen. Rick Scott, are vying for the post of majority leader. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is making demands of the next Senate Republican leader ahead of a closed-door election this week, writing on social media that whoever is chosen should recess the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process.

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote. “Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again.”

If the Senate were to recess for an extended period after Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, it would ensure Trump could freely make appointments to top-ranking positions in government, including the secretary of Defense and Treasury secretary, without needing the support of centrist GOP lawmakers. Senate Republicans are on track for a majority of 53 seats, with one race, in Arizona, still undecided.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and South Dakota Sen. John Thune — who are competing for the majority leader post — all quickly got in line with social media posts of their own about what are called recess appointments.

“It is unacceptable for Senate Ds to blockade President  @realDonaldTrump’s cabinet appointments,” Cornyn wrote on social media. “If they do, we will stay in session, including weekends, until they relent. Additionally, the Constitution expressly confers the power on the President to make recess appointments.

“Article II, Section 2, Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”

Thune wrote: “We must act quickly and decisively to get the president’s nominees in place as soon as possible, & all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments. We cannot let Schumer and Senate Dems block the will of the American people.” Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, is the Senate majority leader.

Scott commented on Trump’s original post, saying that he agreed “100%”

“I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible,” Scott said.

Skipping over the Senate’s advice and consent power would likely mean no committee hearings for nominees named through recess appointments, preventing them from having to answer lawmakers’ questions about their experience and policy goals.

It would also prevent senators from having to take what might be difficult floor votes on possibly controversial Trump nominees.

Trump has just started to announce who he’s selecting for posts in his next administration, naming a “border czar,” ambassador to the United Nations and EPA administrator as of Monday afternoon. 

Supreme Court ruling

The Senate has avoided recessing for more than three days in the middle of a session for years, under both Republican and Democratic majorities.

Instead, when the Senate leaves Capitol Hill for weeks at a time, the chamber holds what’s known as a pro forma session every three days to prevent recess appointments. Those usually last just a few minutes and don’t typically include any legislative business. 

The pro forma sessions, in part, stem from a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in June 2014 that held a president could fill vacancies during a congressional recess if it lasted more than 10 days.

“In light of historical practice, a recess of more than 3 days but less than 10 days is presumptively too short to fall within the Clause,” the justices wrote in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. 

That case began after then-President Barack Obama made three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in 2012, even though the Democratic-controlled Senate was holding pro forma sessions every few days.

Opposition to Obama recess appointments

Republicans in Congress, including Thune and Cornyn, praised the Supreme Court’s decision at the time, sharply criticizing Obama for having tried to get around the Senate.

Thune released a written statement, saying the Supreme Court had blocked Obama from attempting “to violate the separation of powers.”

“When the president couldn’t get his appointments through the Senate, he decided to ignore the law and attempt an end run around Congress,” Thune wrote. “I am pleased that the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the president’s attempt to circumvent the Constitution. Today’s decision reaffirms the fact that Congress, not the president, has the authority to determine its own rules.”

Cornyn criticized Obama for making “unilateral actions” that gave “the perception he doesn’t care what Congress says.”

“As a matter of fact, this morning the Supreme Court rebuked the President on an illegal recess appointment — unconstitutional recess appointment,” Cornyn said during a floor speech, according to the Congressional Record.

Scott was not a member of Congress when the Supreme Court issued its ruling.

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley at the time praised “the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Obama’s illegal recess appointments.”

“Article II, section 2 of the Constitution provides for only two ways in which Presidents may appoint certain officers: First, it provides that the President nominates and, by and with the advice of the Senate, appoints various officers,” Grassley said. “Second, it permits the President to make temporary appointments when a vacancy in one of those offices happens when the Senate is in recess.”

During Trump’s first term in office, Senate Republicans held pro forma sessions as a way to avoid recess appointments and ensure the chamber had the time to vet the people Trump wanted to run some of the most powerful institutions in the country, including the Defense Department.

Any recess appointments Trump might make in the future would expire at the end of the Senate’s “next session,” meaning he would need to go through the process all over again within two years, according to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

Election planned Wednesday

Senate Republicans will hold closed-door, secret ballot leadership elections Wednesday to select new colleagues to fill the top positions.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has held the Republican leader title since 2007, opted not to continue in that role once the new Congress begins, leading to a three-way race between Cornyn, Scott and Thune.

Whoever Republicans elect as their next leader, along with the other members of the leadership team, will have a significant role determining the Senate’s agenda for the next two years as well as setting the tone with the incoming Trump administration.

They’ll also need to broker deals with Democrats on must-pass legislation, like the annual government funding bills and yearly defense policy bill.

Wyoming’s John Barrasso is running unopposed for the whip position, currently held by Thune and previously held by Cornyn.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Iowa’s Joni Ernst are competing to hold the No. 3 leadership position of Conference Chair, currently held by Barrasso.

Republicans will also elect a Policy Committee Chairman, Vice Chairman of the Conference and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee to round out the six-person Senate leadership team.