Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced Tuesday evening she will be supporting Florida U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) for Senate Majority Leader.
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans gathered for a forum to hear from Scott and U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX) – all of whom are vying to succeed Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell to represent Republican leadership in the chamber – about how each of the three senators would approach the job of Majority Leader and work to pass president-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
Senator Rick Scott and I spoke earlier today about how to best ensure conservatives have a stronger voice in the procedural process.
After these conversations and hearing from all the candidates tonight, I will be supporting Rick Scott for Majority Leader, who is committed to…
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) November 13, 2024
During the forum, Blackburn reportedly asked the three candidates “how they would give conservatives a more meaningful voice in the Senate” and also seeked specifics on how each candidate would go about immediately implementing “Trump’s mass deportation operation.”
After the forum, Blackburn publicly endorsed Scott to be Majority Leader after reports swirled in previous days that the Tennessee senator would be backing Thune for the position.
“Senator Rick Scott and I spoke earlier today about how to best ensure conservatives have a stronger voice in the procedural process,” Blackburn wrote in an X post.
“After these conversations and hearing from all the candidates tonight, I will be supporting Rick Scott for Majority Leader, who is committed to passing President Trump’s agenda,” Blackburn added.
With Blackburn’s endorsement, a total of seven U.S. senators – Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rand Paul (R-KY), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) – have publicly announced their support for Scott to be Senate Majority Leader.
Senators will gather behind closed doors on Wednesday to elect a new Majority Leader for the first time since McConnell assumed the Republican leadership role at the beginning of the 110th Congress in 2007.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Sen. Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
