Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has reportedly locked down the votes to be elevated to the No. 3 spot in Republican leadership, the GOP Conference chair in Congress' upper chamber.
Cotton has been bandied about as a potential member of President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet, but he has decided to remain in the Senate and serve as a bridge between the establishment Republicans, the more conservative GOP senators, and the Trump orbit.
A source with knowledge of Cotton's Senate GOP support says he has secured the majority of votes to serve as the Republican Conference chair, Axios reported.
That role is pivotal in GOP messaging, particularly on a day-to-day basis, and Cotton has a wide swath of support, according to the report.
Cotton vowed to fight for the senators' agenda priorities and lead their message in televised interviews, where Cotton had become a burgeoning voice and force in recent years, including on Newsmax.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a frequent Newsmax Senate GOP guest, would be locked out of leadership roles if she loses the GOP Conference chair spot to Cotton, and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., takes Ernst's current No. 4 spot.
"Kamala thought she had it locked up too," an Ernst spokesperson told Axios in a statement. "Anyone who assumes the world's most deliberative body has made up its mind before closing arguments takes their colleagues for granted."
The top spot in the Senate majority figures to be a well-fought battle this week to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in carrying out Trump's agenda in the upper chamber.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. — the likely Trump choice for long-held close ties — is challenging establishment forces Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and John Cornyn, R-Texas. Thune and Cornyn have at times been tepid in backing all of Trump's agenda.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., is unopposed in keeping the Senate majority whip No. 2 Senate GOP position.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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