As Washington prepares for Republicans to take control of the crucial trifecta of the House, Senate, and White House, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will leave his current role, though remain a U.S. Senator from Kentucky through at least 2026.
McConnell, the longest serving party leader in Senate history, will hardly cede all of his influence, however. Last Thursday, he announced that he will serve as chair of the Senate Rules Committee, and the powerful Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during the 119th Congress, which begins in January.
McConnell will be retaining crucial influence over defense spending as President-Elect Donald Trump has pledged to end the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. McConnell, an outspoken defender of funding for Ukraine, has frequently lambasted the Biden administration for not acting swiftly to deliver munitions and request sufficient aid from Congress.
The Kentucky Republican could potentially also clash with House Republicans, over a hundred of whom have voted against sending additional aide to Ukraine during the current session of Congress.
Additionally, a source familiar told Scripps earlier this month that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, secured a commitment from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), that no more aid would be sent to Ukraine, though Johnson has not commented publicly.
RELATED STORY | Last actions the Biden administration will take before Trump takes over White House
On Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers are also gearing up for the arrival of tech CEO Elon Musk & Former Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's advisory panel, dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, which promises to cut wasteful spending and "dismantle Government Bureaucracy."
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Greene announced she plans on chairing a 'DOGE' Subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) announced plans to create a 'DOGE' Caucus. This past weekend, Sen. Ernst met with the President-Elect, Mr. Musk, and Mr. Ramaswamy at Mar-a-Lago, hand-delivering a seven-page-letter detailing billions of dollars in possible cuts for the advisory council to consider. Her ideas include abandoning plans for a planned but unrealized nationwide EV charger network authorized by the Biden administration's infrastructure law, billions of cuts to California public transit infrastructure, and pairing back Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) funding going to what Sen. Ernst deems 'ineligible' recipients, among other proposals.
Ultimately, cuts proposed by Sen. Ernst will need to be ratified by Congress.
Congressional Republicans, though, appear inclined to consider some of the lofty spending cuts envisioned by Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy.
"I get a lot of advice from outside Congress on what to slash and what to cut," Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, told Scripps News earlier this month, adding that he didn't have any issue with the duo's possible recommendations.
Though Musk and Ramaswamy have lofty goals for their 'Department' — they will be unable to effectuate change directly, instead issuing their findings as recommendations to the incoming Trump Administration and to Congress. The pair have said they will cease their work to coincide with the nation's sesquicentennial on July 4th, 2026.
But Congress controls the power of the purse, and any final decisions on spending will likely be left to Washington lawmakers to litigate. "They're obviously not a shadow government," Sen. Cramer told Scripps News, clarifying the tech entrepreneurs were "not decision makers in terms of policy."
