After Epic Failure, Growing Chorus Of Senators Signals It’s Time For McConnell To Go

After Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sabotaged Republicans in the 2022 midterms — pulling spending from competitive GOP candidates such as Blake Masters and even actively spending money against state GOP-endorsed candidates like Alaska’s Kelly Tshibaka — a growing chorus of Republicans is signaling it’s time for McConnell’s tenure in Senate leadership to end.

Here are all the Republican senators and senators-elect who have so far indicated McConnell needs to go.

Josh Hawley

At a rally the day before Election Day, the soon-to-be senior senator from Missouri reportedly said, when asked who should lead the GOP in the Senate, “not Mitch McConnell.”

“I’m not sure if any other senator will run or not. Nobody’s indicated they would. But my view is that we need new leadership in that position,” he told reporters.

In an interview with RealClearPolitics on Friday, Hawley blamed McConnell and “Washington Republicanism” for Republicans’ lack of a clear midterm strategy. “I’m not going to support the current leadership in the party,” he reiterated. Hawley also slammed McConnell for caving to Democrats’ demands on a gun control bill and a climate spending wishlist “billed as infrastructure,” and for abandoning Republicans in key midterm races.

Marco Rubio

The Florida senator who earned a huge victory margin in his reelection bid took to Twitter on Friday to call for the “Senate GOP leadership vote next week” to be “postponed.”

“First we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like #Florida,” Rubio wrote.

Hawley amplified Rubio’s statement, adding, “Exactly right. I don’t know why Senate GOP would hold a leadership vote for the next Congress before this election is finished,” in reference to the runoff election between Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock scheduled for Dec. 6 in Georgia.

Rubio himself could make a strong candidate to challenge McConnell. “If a united GOP is a strong GOP, Rubio is clearly a solid candidate for Leader,” argues The Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway. “While an establishment figure in many good ways, he also embraces and is embraced by many America First folks, doesn’t have Mitch’s baggage of utterly despising voters, and is appealing and savvy.”

Cynthia Lummis

The Wyoming Republican highlighted Rubio’s call for a postponed vote, retweeting it with just the word “Second.”

Mike Lee

The Utah Republican, who just won reelection against independent challenger Evan McMullin, reportedly joined a letter along with Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson and Florida’s Rick Scott calling for the GOP leadership vote to be postponed.

“We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to why and what we can do to improve our chances in 2024,” the letter argues. “Holding leadership elections without hearing from the candidates as to how they will perform their leadership duties and before we know whether we will be in the majority or even who all our members

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