INSIDE D.C. WITH JOHN GIZZI NEWSMAX WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
Thune Favored for Leader • By all accounts on Capitol Hill, Senate GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota has a healthy lead in the race to succeed Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader. Thune already has the blessings of fellow South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds and Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin. He is also expected to get a round of endorsements from more moderate senators, among them Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Privately, many members say they support Thune in the “Battle of the Johns” against John Cornyn of Texas because of his age — 63 to Cornyn’s 72 — and the fact that he is more telegenic. What makes this race diffi cult to call is that any new candidates elected in November will have a say and add uncertainty to the result.
McCarthy for White House? • The resignation of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from Congress early this year stunned just about anyone who knows the deposed speaker of the House. As to what he does next, McCarthy-watchers say it is almost a cinch the Californian will be in the White House if there is a second Trump term. He is frequently mentioned as a prospective chief of staff , due to his excellent
38 NEWSMAX | JUNE 2024
relationship with Trump (who made calls for him in his ’23 bid for speaker and called him “My Kevin”). But McCarthy, sources close to Trump tell us, could also head up congressional relations in the offi ce of the president, and, if so, would be given the highest title in the White House hierarchy: counselor to the president.
‘No More Moores!’ • Watch for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va., to be challenged for renomination from the right in 2026. Rated 67% by the American Conservative Union, two-termer Capito is considered not conservative enough by many in the GOP that has become increasingly dominant in the Mountaineer State. More signifi cantly, many Republicans grew upset in ’24 when the senator’s son, State Delegate Moore Capito, ran (unsuccessfully) for their party’s nomination for governor while her nephew, State Treasurer Riley Moore, ran (successfully) for nomination to an open House seat. “No More Moores!” was a slogan brandished increasingly at party meetings. One very likely opponent to Capito, 71, is Rep. Alex Mooney, who had been polling behind Republican Gov. Jim Justice in the GOP primary in this year’s race to fi ll the Senate seat held
by retiring Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin.
Rules Change for Speaker • Now that House Speaker Mike Johnson has survived a move by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to remove him from power, his allies are unlikely to move immediately for a change of the current rules to make it harder to oust a speaker. But Team Johnson is very likely to make such a move before the House adjourns for the election or after the November elections (assuming Republicans retain their majority in the
House). Sources within the House Republican Conference say they are likely to pursue a change instituted by former Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2019 that required a majority of either party conference for a motion to vacate to be voted on by the full House. The so-called “Pelosi Provision” was scrapped in 2023 when Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., agreed to go back to the one-vote requirement to vacate the chair in order to secure the support of fellow Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to become speaker.
AL-BURHAN
HEMEDTI Sudan Next Hot Spot
• Next to the explosive developments in Ukraine and Israel this year, fi ghting in Sudan seemed an afterthought. But sources within the mineral-rich African nation told Newsmax that, whoever is president next year, he will have to deal with the mounting civil war between the government of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and insurgent warlord Hemedti. The reason is the growing evidence Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are supplied with missiles from the Russian mercenary organization known as the Wagner Group. Continued support from Wagner, which is a strong presence in much of Africa, and a triumph by Hemedti, Sudan-watchers say, could mean that Sudan’s major mineral products, such as chromite, aluminum, and cobalt could then be used to strengthen Russia’s hand in the Ukraine War.
AL-BURHAN/MAHMOUD HJAJ/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES / HEMEDTI/ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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