Senate GOP Newcomers Neither Far Right Nor Extra-Loyal

Senate GOP Newcomers Neither Far Right Nor Extra-Loyal-rollcall: They’re often dubbed “the majority makers,” the nine Republicans who took Senate seats from Democrats in the 2014 election. But what sort of majority have they made for themselves?  After a year on the job, the group’s collective impact on the senatorial rhythm has proven to be more nuanced than many in either party portray. They have undeniably pushed the Senate hard to the right, but they haven’t started out by being all that much more doctrinaire or combative than their elders in the GOP caucus. Having turned Mitch McConnell into the majority leader, in other words, the freshmen have not been down-the-line conservative or lockstep-easy for the Kentuckian to lead.