Rumors were rampant on Capitol Hill on Monday that President-elect Donald Trump will weigh in on a choice for Senate Majority Leader before the 53 Republican senators meet Wednesday morning to elect a successor to outgoing GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
One of Washington's worst-kept secrets is that Trump favors Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., for the job over Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
Trump allies such as Elon Musk and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have publicly endorsed Scott, 71, a former two-term Florida governor and past chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
But an inside count of how the Republican lawmakers were going to vote was leaked Sunday night and showed Scott running third with 11 votes.
The same survey showed Thune, at 63 the youngest contender and holding the historically advantageous No. 2 position of Republican whip, running first with 24 votes. With 27 votes — or a majority plus one — needed to win, Thune could secure the leadership on the second ballot (when the candidate running last is eliminated) or even the first.
Cornyn, 72, has 18 votes, according to the count.
Although Trump is close to Scott and once clashed with Thune (he even urged South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem to challenge him for renomination), sources close to the Trump team agree that the president-elect is unlikely to make a public endorsement of Scott with Thune so close to winning the leadership contest Wednesday.
"Trump won't try to rescue Scott if he is trailing so badly at this late stage in the game," a lobbyist and veteran Senate staffer told us.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.