Mike Lee lays out demands for McConnell successor

The leader of an effort among conservative senators to shape the race to elect the next Senate GOP leader — and push the chamber further right — is finally putting his ideas down on paper.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Monday night laid out a series of proposals meant to decentralize power inside the Senate Republican Conference, taking it away from the office that outgoing Leader Mitch McConnell has occupied for nearly two decades.

In a letter sent to Senate Republican offices Monday night and obtained by Playbook, Lee doesn’t explicitly refer to his proposals as demands. But in the context of a hotly contested race to succeed McConnell between Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the list will clearly be seen as a roadmap for winning the support of the roughly dozen conservative senators whom Lee is believed to be speaking for.

“We have the chance to strengthen the Senate, empower individual members, and ensure that the voices of the American people are heard once more,” Lee wrote.