Vance and Rubio Senate replacements could create headaches for Trump: analyst

With J.D. Vance stepping down from his Senate seat representing Ohio to become Donald Trump's vice president, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) also leaving his seat to become the new secretary of state, who will replace them in the Senate could dictate how easily the president-elect can get a GOP-majority Senate with a slim margin to back his every move.

According to an analysis by the Washington Post's Aaron Blake, the governors of the two affected states, Govs. Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Ron DeSantis of Florida will have the last say on who will fill the two seats in a sharply divided 53-47 Republican majority Senate.

Considering that both governors have had their differences from Trump, there is no guarantee that they will select a replacement who is entirely in the president-elect's camp.

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As Blake wrote, "Republicans will have 53 senators, so just four voting with Democrats can reject Trump’s ideas. And we’re already getting a sense of which GOP senators could be thorns in Trump’s side," adding that leads to the question of whether the two governors will "...choose picks that enable Trump or maybe provide some more potential checks on him."

In the case of Ohio's DeWine, he "...is one of the foremost examples of a Republican who has demonstrated independence from Trump — and not only lived to tell the tale, but thrived. He’s also term-limited after a long career in politics that will probably end in early 2027. In other words, he has some latitude."

According to Blake, "DeWine has provided few hints about his plans, except that he wants someone who can seek and win the seat in 2026. If recently defeated Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) runs, that could be a tough race."

DeSantis, on the other hand, "...has more of a political future to mind than DeWine, given he could run for president again. That means we should hardly expect him to pick anyone MAGA regards with suspicion. But some lingering tensions from DeSantis’s run against Trump in the 2024 primaries could loom."

Having written that, Blake elaborated, "Beyond Lara Trump, there aren’t any real obvious contenders that could be prominent Trump skeptics. Among the possible picks are Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, state Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and former state House speakers Paul Renner and Jose Oliva."

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