It appears the new Senate will be structured like Russia once was, when a President Medvedev held the politically stronger office over Prime Minister Putin, but Medvedev relied on Putin for his power, so Putin was still the King. So it is with Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who will be replaced by his handpicked successor, John Thune (R-SD).
McConnell will be holding onto significant power by becoming the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair and the Chair of the Senate Rules committee, giving him tremendous power. Given that Thune won mostly due to McConnell’s stooges voting for him, Thune is essentially the Medvedev of the next Senate.
McConnell to step down as U.S. Senate GOP leader but take over two key chairmanships • West Virginia Watch
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WASHINGTON — Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced Thursday he’ll become chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Rules Committee when the new Congress convenes in January.
“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War,” McConnell wrote in the announcement. “At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy.”
Maine Sen. Susan Collins currently holds the top Republican slot on the Defense Subcommittee, which drafts the Pentagon’s annual spending bill, worth $825 billion.
Collins is expected to become chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee next year and McConnell said in the statement he looks forward to working with her “to accomplish our shared goal.”
It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday if Collins would become chairwoman of one of the Appropriations Committee’s other 11 subcommittees.
Current Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., not only leads the full panel but is also chairwoman of the Energy-Water Subcommittee, for example.