Sen. McConnell Hopes to Prevent Weakening of GOP Senate Leader

In his final weeks as leader of the Republican senate conference, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is working to prevent the position from being weakened, Punchbowl News reported.

McConnell is trying to keep a provision that allows the majority leaders to shut down an open amendment process on the floor, which Republican senators have complained leads to less transparency.

The Kentucky senator, who is stepping down as leader at the end of this term after nearly 18 years at the helm, told Punchbowl individual senators still maintain power because the Senate operates on unanimous consent, often leaving the majority leader with no choice but to shut down amendments in order to keep legislation moving forward.

"You've watched it over and over again: One senator has an objection. The majority leader says we're open for amendments. That doesn't mean you're open for amendments," McConnell told Punchbowl.

"Because what happens is you have two people over here who say, 'I won't give him his vote unless I get my vote,' and all of a sudden, the membership itself has kept you from having an open amendment process, no matter whether you wanted to or not."

McConnell is concerned if the Republican leaker weakens his post, he will end up like Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose tenure was short-lived.

"I want whoever has this job to have some clout," McConnell told Punchbowl. "When you have narrow majorities, you've seen in the House what could happen. Take all the power away from the leader and what happens? Chaos."

Three senators — Rick Scott of Florida, John Cornyn of Texas, and Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota — are running for the GOP leadership post.

Cornyn has suggested term limits for the leader while Thune has promised to "democratize" the Republican conference by empowering committees, Punchbowl reported.

Scott has proposed drastic changes to the position, but is considered a long shot, according to Punchbowl.