Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been having secret talks with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren about taking a leadership role in the embattled Democratic Party,
Politico reported.
Senate Democrats are hoping that Warren, a populist liberal, could pump some new life into the party after their drubbing by Republicans last week in the midterm elections.
They believe that a nationally known figure like Warren is just what the party needs when Congress returns in the new year with both houses controlled by the GOP, sources tell Politico.
Although the move would have the backing of the party’s increasingly liberal caucus,
Warren’s upgrade might also mean that the new Senate Democratic minority could be preparing to shun any bipartisan deals with Senate Republicans, the report stated.
Reid has been having private discussions with the firebrand freshman to create a special leadership post, according to the sources.
Warren’s powerful new position may well be revealed at a closed-door Senate Democratic Caucus meeting on Thursday, when Reid is expected to be elected as the new Senate Minority Leader.
Although no Democrats are expected to challenge Reid for party leadership, his re-election is unlikely to be unanimous, Politico said.
Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota have attacked the Nevada senator’s intransigent leadership manner in the past, and have been unwilling to back him.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire also declined to endorse Reid during interviews with Politico. "I’m open to change," Manchin said.
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Reid’s chief deputies, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, are expected to be confirmed for the other three leading posts in the new Democratic minority.
Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a second-term Democrat, is due to be named chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, sources tell Politico.
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