Senate Republicans will elect a new leader for the first time in 17 years on Wednesday, and Florida Sen. Rick Scott collected key endorsements which may be enough to drive him to victory.
Multiple allies of President-elect Donald Trump are pushing for Scott to replace the current Senate GOP leader, Mitch McConnell.
Scott is running for the position alongside Texas Sen. John Cornyn and South Dakota Sen. John Thune, both close allies of McConnell.
Trump weighed in on Sunday, saying the next Senate majority leader "must agree to allow recess appointments," which are temporary appointments made by the president without Senate approval when the upper chamber is in recess.
That would make Trump's cabinet picks less dependent on passing the Senate.
Scott made it very clear he is an ally of Trump, tweeting, "100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible."
Thune and Cornyn publicly criticized Trump over his involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, but endorsed him in the 2024 election.
Scott has received many endorsements from Trump allies, including Lara Trump, Sean Hannity, Elon Musk, Sen. Marco Rubio, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Southwest Florida Rep. Byron Donalds.
The winner needs a majority of votes from the 53 Republican senators to win. The contest will move to a second ballot between the two vote leaders if no one wins the first round.
The ultimate victor will drive the party for the next several years.
The Senate majority leader is the highest-ranking official in the upper chamber who is responsible for working with each committee to develop legislation and scheduling the order and manner of debate of the bills.
The majority leader also serves as the primary spokesperson for the party and has priority recognition on the Senate floor.
Their motions and amendments are also given priority over those from other senators, meaning the leader can move to have a bill on the Senate calendar considered while also having the ability to block amendments from being considered through a practice known as "filling the tree."
Republicans will vote with a secret ballot in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. Whoever comes out victorious will become the new leader come January when Republicans take control of the chamber.
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