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With Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell<\/strong> announcing Wednesday that he will relinquish his leadership post in November, a path has been cleared for Donald Trump<\/strong> to remake the upper chamber in his image. Similar renovations have already taken place within the House<\/a>, and most recently, the Republican National Committee, where Trump has endorsed<\/a> his daughter-in-law to be the group\u2019s cochair. But McConnell, while amenable to much of Trump\u2019s agenda when he was president, and instrumental<\/a> in him getting three Supreme Court picks on the bench, has consistently clashed with him on ideological and strategic grounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, should Trump retake the presidency, he is likely to find a much more agreeable Republican leading in the Senate. J.D. Vance,<\/strong> a first-term Republican from Ohio and one of Trump\u2019s most loyal allies in the Senate, told<\/a> The Hill<\/em> he hopes McConnell\u2019s replacement will be \u201ca little more in tune with the preferences of our voters.\u201d In other words, someone more in tune with Trump. \u201cI think it\u2019ll be great,\u201d Vance said in comments<\/a> to the Associated Press on McConnell\u2019s decision, \u201cbecause I think Trump will win, we have a leader who can work well with the next Republican president.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the contenders to replace McConnell are Minority Whip John Thune<\/strong> of South Dakota, former whip John Cornyn<\/strong> of Texas, and conference chairman John Barrasso<\/strong> of Wyoming, according to Politico<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> So far, Cornyn is the only Republican to make public his plan to succeed McConnell.\u00a0\u201cI am asking my Republican colleagues to give me the opportunity to succeed Leader McConnell. I have learned a lot during my time both in and out of Senate leadership,\u201d Cornyn said in a Wednesday statement<\/a>. \u201cThroughout my time I\u2019ve built a track record of listening to colleagues and seeking consensus, while leading the fight to stop bad policies that are harmful to our nation and the conservative cause.\u201d<\/p>\n All of the \u201cthree Johns,\u201d as they have been termed, have already endorsed Trump for president; McConnell has not. Barrasso, perhaps the biggest Trump loyalist out of the bunch, was the first member of the Senate Republican leadership to back Trump formally.\u00a0But the other Johns, like McConnell, have had more contentious relationships with Trump.<\/p>\n Thune\u2019s political career was declared<\/a> \u201cover\u201d by Trump in late 2020 after the senator denied a plan to use a now infamous congressional session to object to Joe Biden<\/strong>\u2019s victory. The dispute appears to have fizzled out, with Thune winning reelection last cycle and finally endorsing<\/a> Trump over the weekend.\u00a0As for Cornyn, he frequently defended Trump throughout his presidency but was also critical at times, questioning the then president\u2019s support for tariffs<\/a> and his moves to pull the US out of the NAFTA<\/a> and TPP<\/a> trade agreements. Still, despite acknowledging<\/a> that another Trump term would not be \u201cwithout its challenges,\u201d Cornyn opted to endorse<\/a> Trump late last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump proved willing to inject himself into last year\u2019s House Speaker race, accusing Representative Tom Emmer<\/strong> of being a \u201cGlobalist RINO,\u201d and apparently killing<\/a> his candidacy, while backing<\/a> Representative Mike Johnson,<\/strong> who was a key ally<\/a> in Trump\u2019s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.<\/p>\n So far, Trump hasn\u2019t shown a clear preference for whom he would like to see in McConnell\u2019s stead. When the topic was raised during a Fox News interview<\/a> this month, he mentioned Steve Daines,<\/strong> a Republican senator from Montana and the chairman of the Senate Republicans\u2019 campaign arm. \u201cSteve Daines is a great guy,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cAnd actually John Cornyn gave me an endorsement, which shocked the hell out of me, to be honest with you.\u201d\u00a0Aside from Daines, other Trump-aligned senators who might enter the ring reportedly include<\/a> Tom Cotton<\/strong> and Rick Scott,<\/strong> who in 2022 ran against McConnell for Senate GOP leader but lost.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been very clear and have long believed that we need new leadership in the Senate that represents our voters and the issues we were sent here to fight for,\u201d Scott said<\/a> in a statement, adding that McConnell\u2019s exit presents \u201can opportunity to refocus our efforts on solving the significant challenges facing our country and actually reflect the aspirations of voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n