WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators will meet behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace the longtime Senate leader Mitch McConnell and next year they will lead the new majority; This is a decision that could shape the future of the Senate and the party. Donald Trump takes back the presidency.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott are pushing for the most votes in secret ballot elections and promising a new direction. Senate Even as he angrily vies for Trump’s favor. This will be the first test of Trump’s relationship with Congress after he decisively won the election and claimed mandate for his own agenda.

It is unclear who will win.

Thune and Cornyn campaigned mostly within the Senate, working with senators individually and privately and raising millions of dollars for Senate GOP candidates. Both moved quickly after McConnell announced in March that he would step down as leader.

Scott waged a rebel campaign outside the Senate; He campaigned publicly as the candidate closest to Trump and won endorsements from people close to the former and future president. Scott received overwhelming support from X over the weekend, with Trump allies including Elon Musk pushing his proposal.

Who senators choose and whether Trump endorses a nominee in the final hours could set the tone for Trump’s attempts to assert control over the legislature in his second presidency. His relationship with McConnell was strained during his first term, and Trump was often frustrated that lawmakers did not fully submit to his will.

Both Cornyn and Thune have grown closer to Trump after criticizing him in recent months. Reversing election defeat in 2020. But the two longtime senators are both viewed by their colleagues as institutionalists more in the mold of McConnell; Scott, on the other hand, tried to rally support outside the Senate and within Trump’s inner circle and to pressure an overhaul at home.

“We got an instruction a week ago that people want change,” Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who supports Scott, said as he entered a forum for candidates Tuesday night. “They want President Trump to have more leeway than last time. “He was a little tied up.”

Tuberville said he wants to make sure Trump “feels good about it,” no matter who is elected.

Regardless of who wins, all three senators have shown that they will defer to the new president as leader of the party and are willing to cede some of those powers to the Senate.

When Trump X posted this on Sunday The new leader must “accept” All three have signaled they are open to the idea to allow him to appoint Cabinet members and others while the Senate is in recess, avoiding confirmation votes.

To choose the new leader, Senate Republicans will meet privately for several hours at a ceremonial site at the Capitol to hear the candidates’ arguments. Very few assistants are allowed in. The contestants will each be introduced and nominated by two other senators, then give their own speeches. Votes are cast secretly. If no one wins a majority in the first vote, there is a second round, and so on until someone wins a majority of the votes.

The club contest is a stark contrast from the House, where lawmakers publicly announce their votes for speaker in an election on the House floor.

And aside from Scott’s 10-vote challenge to McConnell two years ago, this is the first competitive election for the Republican leader in three decades. McConnell, a powerful figure in the party but who has fought repeatedly with Trump, was uncontested when he first became party leader in 2007.

Unlike most previous contests, there is no clear frontrunner to enter the election. Because senators vote by secret ballot, the majority does not say who they voted for. And some may never tell.

“This is a secret ballot, and there is a secret ballot for a reason,” said South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who previously said he would support Thune, his state counterpart. “Each member chooses the leader they think they can work with best during this two-year period.”

Rounds said he preferred Thune and Cornyn to “handle this one-on-one with everyone,” but said he also talked to Scott. “We have three qualified people,” he said.

What all candidates agree on is a shift in McConnell, who has made most of the decisions as the leader; It was the key demand from the far-right wing of the caucus, which disagreed with McConnell on aid to Ukraine and increasingly turned against him as he fought Trump. .

Thune, Scott and Cornyn said they wanted to see more opportunities for individual senators to introduce bills and propose amendments and promised to be better communicators than McConnell, who frequently shunned the conference. At the forum held Tuesday evening, the trio reached agreement on many of the issues discussed, according to senators leaving the meeting.

Thune, McConnell’s current No. 2, is viewed by his colleagues as something of an incumbent, taking over for several weeks last year when McConnell was away for medical reasons. He is well-liked among his fellow senators and was a front-runner in the race for a time. But Cornyn, who served as McConnell’s No. 2 before Thune, is also well-liked and has received some commitments from his colleagues.

Thune and Cornyn are similar on policy; They generally vote in line with the conference but occasionally work with Democrats. Cornyn is a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. leading role in bipartisan gun legislation two years ago. Thune worked across the aisle as the former chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The two disagree on whether the leader’s term should be limited; This is the main demand of some from the conservative wing. While Cornyn pushed the boundaries, Thune did not.

Scott, the former governor of Florida, was elected in 2018 and quickly positioned himself as a foil to McConnell, running against him for the leadership in 2022 and aligning himself with Utah Sen. Mike Lee and others who have been highly critical of the current leadership. While Thune and Cornyn courted their colleagues all year long, Scott spent most of the year committed to his own re-election race. She easily defeated Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by more than 10 points.

Scott campaigned based on his business experience. He said Tuesday night the conversation boiled down to this: “I support Donald Trump’s agenda. He has authority.”

Also voting in Wednesday’s elections will be senators who will give Republicans a majority next year, even though they have not yet been sworn in. Republican Bernie Moreno, who defeated Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, attended the forum Tuesday night and said afterwards there was an “incredible energy” in the room.

However, he said he has not yet decided who he will vote for. “We have three great candidates who should take us where we are going,” he said.