Meeting for two hours with the three contestants taking questions behind closed doors gave senators few clues about who would emerge victorious Wednesday in what would amount to the GOP’s biggest Senate leadership shakeup since McConnell first took the reins nearly two decades ago .

These candidates are Whip John Thune (R-SD), former Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL).

While declining to say who he would support, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) joked, “It’s going to be close, but it looks like it’s going to be Caitlin Clark,” referring to the basketball star.

Scott, an anti-establishment underdog, has received two very public — but perhaps unsurprising — endorsements from conservative Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). Lee hosted the meeting as an informal discussion moderator.

“We need aggressive reform and an aggressive return to the rules that make this entity worthy of the title of ‘the world’s largest deliberative body,'” Lee said. “And the most aggressive call for reform came from Rick Scott.”

Still, most senators chose to remain silent on the contentious leadership battle that could otherwise strain future working relations. Trump, who has no weight in the race but is being courted by Scott and his friends MAGA-world supporters baseHe was due to arrive at lawmakers’ doorsteps on Wednesday to meet with House Republicans and then meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. Senators were unsure whether Trump would appear on their side of the Capitol.

Other behind-the-scenes wrangling centered on how Trump’s political comeback should be factored into the leadership race and the soon-to-be Republican Senate majority. The Senate’s controversial effort to set aside its “advice and consent” role in confirming presidential nominees by letting Trump decide his nomination recess appointments He continued how willing he seemed to be to join the fight without congressional approval.

Thune, Cornyn and Scott support such deference to Trump, but Thune and Cornyn have specifically expressed a desire to remain in session to first exhaust other avenues. All three reaffirmed their commitment to Trump’s agenda, according to the senators.

“The president has the right to assemble his team on time. Any obstacle will be met with tremendous overwhelming force, Cornyn told reporters. “Democrats will probably drag their feet. “We will stay in session until they relent.”

Other issues raised, according to senators in the chamber, included reining in federal spending, the debt ceiling, reconciliation, the tax package and changes to the chamber’s amendment process.

After returning to the Senate for the first time in nearly two months, there was also some tension due to the last-minute postponement of the elections to allow senators to deliberate further. These talks were led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who supports Scott.

“McConnell had just cooked this stuff up, where there’s an election you come back here and you vote right away. And again, that’s what he did this time, so that’s what I put out there,” Johnson said. “I’m upset about this. It’s weird that we’re in such a hurry. But at least we had this forum.”

Most senators expressed reluctance to delay; That resolution would have to be proposed and passed by a majority of Republicans when they meet for the vote Wednesday morning.

“I opposed it,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). Washington Comptroller Against opposing senators who want more time.

Cramer, who supports Thune, stated that the leadership election has been planned for a long time.

“Nobody got this, and if it did, it’s their fault, no one else’s,” he added.

Some Republicans have shown a broader willingness to consider what has been described by several senators as a “pause” before a possible second vote involving the two top-performing candidates if neither gets a majority vote in the first round.

Speculation swirled about what it might mean if Thune and Cornyn were forced to run in the runoff on behalf of Scott’s supporters. Cramer noted assumptions that people who voted for Scott in the first round would be more likely to support Cornyn over Thune in the second round.

“I think unless Scott supporters promise to all vote the same, it’s like expecting Hispanics to all vote for Kamala,” Cramer said. “Oh. Bad assumption.”

WHO WILL SERVE IN PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET? WHAT WE KNOW

Incoming senators will also have a say in leadership elections, but retiring senators will not. Bernie Mereno of Ohio, Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, and Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) declined to announce their preferred candidates.

“I think he’s the guy who can bring the conference together the best,” Curtis said. “I’ve seen what happens when there’s a conference in the legislature that isn’t unified.”