Republicans Ponder Successor To Ailing McConnell

The Hill reports:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) extended absence from the Senate has stirred speculation among Republican senators over how much longer the 81-year-old senator will lead the Senate GOP conference.

There’s no word yet on McConnell’s date of return, but some lawmakers expect he may not come back to the Senate until mid-April, after the two-week Easter and Passover recess.

GOP senators say they expect either Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) or Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to someday replace McConnell as leader and predict that either man would inspire a lot of confidence.

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The No. 2 Senate Republican has kept in touch by text with GOP Leader Mitch McConnell since a recent fall and concussion but has not yet talked directly to the Kentucky legislator, he told reporters Wednesday. https://t.co/MeIJW8M8Ct

— Bruno J. Navarro (@Bruno_J_Navarro) March 18, 2023

“I have not spoken with him,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the GOP whip said. “I have communicated with him, but I look forward to making that happen.”https://t.co/ZfedLLN7c6

— Bruno J. Navarro (@Bruno_J_Navarro) March 18, 2023