North Carolina senator warns fellow Republicans against reforms that could weaken party leader

North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis warned his fellow Republican senators on Tuesday not to pass certain reforms that he predicted would weaken the next Senate Republican leader. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is retiring as GOP leader at the end of the year, and Senate Minority Whip John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Florida Sen. Rick Scott are running to replace him.

Tillis's letter, which was reported by The Hill, was in response to Senate Steering Committee Chairman Mike Lee's list of procedural reforms that the Republican highlighted in his own letter last week.

The reforms would give Republican senators more say in how the leader runs the Senate floor, and also calls for the new leader to outline a structured process and floor schedule for considering the annual spending bills at the beginning of each year.

The North Carolinian warned that the reforms would weaken the next leader, and claimed it could cause the same gridlock that has paralyzed the House.

“The debate among members really boils down to whether you favor a weak or strong leader model," Tillis wrote. "Mike has laid out proposals that would substantially weaken the Republican leader and further empower [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer, and I believe it would be unwise to go down that path."

“We are witnessing the downside of a weak-leader model in the House today," he continued. "Two Speakers during a single congress and self-imposed gridlock on legislation hardly seems like a model we want to adopt in the Senate.  Compared to the democrat conference leader, we already have a weak-leader model, and I believe it would be risky to weaken it further."

No date for the next Senate Republican leader elections has been announced so far, but senators expect it to be held Nov. 13, a week after the presidential election next month. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage