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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) extended absence from the Senate has stirred speculation among Republican senators over how much longer the 81-year-old senator will lead the Senate GOP conference. 

There’s no word yet on McConnell’s date of return, but some lawmakers expect he may not come back to the Senate until mid-April, after the two-week Easter and Passover recess.  

“I’ve heard senators say, half-jokingly, I wonder if the people who want to be leader are starting to count votes,” one Republican senator said. “People are thinking this is probably good reminder that he’s not going to be leader in 10 years.” 

“It’s kind of a state of limbo. Nobody really knows what the situation is and nobody knows how long he’ll be gone,” the lawmaker added. “A couple of folks have said, ‘Who’s in charge right now.’” 

Another GOP senator privately expressed concern to The Hill last week about the future of the Senate Republican Conference after McConnell retires.  

“I think, who would be our next leader and what kind of leader would that person be?” the senator said. “Yeah, I do worry about that.” 

The Republican Party is changing and some GOP lawmakers fear that could accelerate if former President Trump wins the party’s presidential nomination or general election in 2024. Speculation about Trump is rising again this week as the former president himself predicts an indictment over a hush-money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels.

Before his injury, McConnell was trying to put his stamp on the future makeup of the Senate GOP conference by playing a significant role in next year’s Senate primaries, helping candidates who have an eye toward governing and the best chance of winning in November.  

He told Fox News last month that in West Virginia, Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania “we’re focusing on now to try to get the very most electable candidate nominated.”  

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said McConnell’s “got a better instinct for the electorate than virtually anybody in the Senate.”  

“I think he’s representing good conservative value and at the same understanding the political boundaries we need in to resonate at a national level and in purple states and even blue states,” he said, predicting that McConnell will remain as leader through his current Senate term, which ends after 2026.  

“I have full confidence in him, I’m going to support him,” he said.  

Some Republican senators think that McConnell’s successor would lead in the same way he has by promoting traditional Republican values, cutting deals with Democrats when necessary and promoting unity across the Senate Republican Conference. 

GOP senators say they expect either Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) or Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to someday replace McConnell as leader and predict that either man would inspire a lot of confidence. 

Thune is the second-ranking Senate Republican leader, but he will step down from that job at the end of 2024 because of Republican conference term limits.  

Thune built strong relationships with the business community during his time as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and has an impressive track record of moving legislation, getting more than 100 bills signed into law. He was one of the “core four” Republican senators who put together the landmark 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.   

He actively raised money for Senate colleagues and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and has more than $16.5 million in his campaign account. 

Thune is open to the possibility of running for leader someday, but says any talk about him succeeding McConnell is putting “the cart before the horse.” 

“If and when the time comes, I’m always interested in what I can do to help our team succeed but certainly right now just trying to get from one day to the next,” he said. 

Cornyn has made it clear that he’s also interested in serving as leader whenever McConnell decides to retire.   

Cornyn’s allies tout him as the biggest Senate Republican fundraiser after McConnell and the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. 

He raised $11 million in hard dollars through the Cornyn Victory Committee to aid Republican campaigns directly and he raised another $9 million for the NRSC and Senate GOP incumbents and candidates, hosting and attending events in Texas, Washington and around the country.  

He also played a central role in negotiating two of the biggest bipartisan accomplishments of 2022: gun violence legislation to respond to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act.  

McConnell asked Cornyn to take the lead on the difficult gun violence issue because he wanted to get a result that wouldn’t create a rift between GOP senators and gun rights advocates.  

Thune stood in for McConnell last week by presiding over the Monday afternoon Senate Republican leadership meeting and taking the lead in speaking to reporters at the Tuesday leadership press conference.  

But McConnell has continued to play a role. His staff worked closely with Thune’s staff to set the agenda for the Monday leadership meeting, which was still held in his Capitol office.  

Asked how it felt to be in charge of the GOP conference while McConnell is away, Thune laughed and answered: “I don’t think of it as being in charge, I think we’re all trying to pitch in and help the team however we can.” 

“We’re working closely with the leader’s team to make sure all the bases get covered,” he said.

McConnell sent a message to colleagues Thursday when they gathered for a lunch hosted by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to say he was doing well and sorry to miss out on the delicious Maine lobster rolls prepared by a Park City restaurant.    

“I don’t anticipate there to be an uncertainty whatsoever. His return is absolute,” said Josh Holmes, a senior political adviser to McConnell, who added that the GOP leader is showing good progress at a rehab facility.  

“Based on everything we’ve seen over the last week any suspicion otherwise will be voided almost immediately when he gets back,” he added, knocking down speculation that McConnell’s condition is worse than has been publicly reported.   

McConnell has a solid grip on the Senate Republican leader’s job, which he showed in November by easily defeating Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in a leadership race by a vote of 37-10. 

He is biggest fundraiser for Senate Republican candidates and helped raise $290 million for the 2022 midterm through an affiliated super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund.  

But McConnell has also bitterly feuded with Trump. In addition, his commitment to free trade, a strong national defense and political pragmatism is sometimes a friction point with Republicans who embrace Trump’s “America First” populism.  

McConnell’s break with Trump opened the door for Scott to challenge him, something that Trump publicly encouraged.  

Several Republicans who voted for Scott said McConnell has led the GOP conference for long enough — more than 16 years. The Kentucky senator in January surpassed late-Sen. Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) as the longest-serving Senate leader in history. 

“I voted for change,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told The Hill in November. “Nothing against Mitch, I just think we need change.”

Some Republicans, however, think McConnell has performed a major service for the Senate GOP conference by absorbing so much of Trump’s wrath and taking the heat of other senators who have their own complaints and disagreements with the former president.  

They say he also soaks up criticism from the media and critics on the left that would otherwise fall on other GOP senators.   North Korea describes latest missile launch as simulated nuclear attack on South Trump accuses Manhattan DA of ‘interference in a presidential election’

“One thing about McConnell’s total value is that he’ll just take it from anybody for anybody,” said a third Republican senator who requested anonymity to talk about the future of the Senate GOP leadership.  

The senator said Thune and Cornyn are the clear front-runners to become the next leader but still have to prove they can fill McConnell’s shoes as a political heat shield for other Republican senators. 

“I think both of them are like that but I don’t know. I think they’d have to convince some people that they are,” the senator said. 

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Technology

Here’s where Apple makes its products — and how Trump’s tariffs could have an impact

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Here's where Apple makes its products — and how Trump's tariffs could have an impact

Apple’s iPhone 16 at an Apple Store on Regent Street in London on Sept. 20, 2024.

Rasid Necati Aslim | Anadolu | Getty Images

Apple has made moves to diversify its supply chain beyond China to places like India and Vietnam, but tariffs announced by the White House are set to hit those countries too.

U.S. President Donald Trump laid out “reciprocal tariff” rates on more than 180 countries on Wednesday.

China will face a 34% tariff, but with the existing 20% rate, that brings the true tariff rate on Beijing under this Trump term to 54%, CNBC reported. India faces a 26% tariff, while Vietnam’s rate is 46%.

Apple was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Here’s a breakdown on Apple’s supply chain footprint that could be affected by tariffs.

China

The majority of Apple’s iPhones are still assembled in China by partner Foxconn.

China accounts for around 80% of Apple’s production capacity, according to estimates from Evercore ISI in a note last month.

Around 90% of iPhones are assembled in China, Evercore ISI said.

While the number of manufacturing sites in China dropped between Apple’s 2017 and 2020 fiscal year, it has since rebounded, Bernstein said in a note last month. Chinese suppliers account for around 40% of Apple’s total, Bernstein said.

Evercore ISI estimates that 55% of Apple’s Mac products and 80% of iPads are assembled in China.

India

Apple is targeting around 25% of all iPhones globally to be made in India, a government minister said in 2023.

India could reach about 15%-20% of overall iPhone production by the end of 2025, Bernstein analysts estimate. Evercore ISI said around 10% to 15% of iPhones are currently assembled in India.

Vietnam

Vietnam has emerged in the past few years as a popular manufacturing hub for consumer electronics. Apple has increased its production in Vietnam.

Around 20% of iPad production and 90% of Apple’s wearable product assembly like the Apple Watch takes place in Vietnam, according to Evercore ISI.

Other key countries

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Politics

Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

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Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Lawmakers in the US states of Minnesota and Alabama filed companion bills to identical existing bills that if passed into law, would allow each state to buy Bitcoin.

The Minnesota Bitcoin Act, or HF 2946, was introduced to the state’s House by Republican Representative Bernie Perryman on April 1, following an identical bill introduced on March 17 by GOP state Senator Jeremy Miller.

Meanwhile, on the same day in Alabama, Republican state Senator Will Barfoot introduced Senate Bill 283, while a bi-partisan group of representatives led by Republican Mike Shaw filed the identical House Bill 482, which allows for the state to invest in crypto, but essentially limits it to Bitcoin (BTC).

Twin Alabama bills don’t explicitly name Bitcoin

Minnesota’s Bitcoin Act would allow the state’s investment board to invest state assets in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and permit state employees to add crypto to retirement accounts.

It would also exempt crypto gains from state income taxes and give residents the option to pay state taxes and fees with Bitcoin.

Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Source: Bitcoin Laws

The twin Alabama bills don’t explicitly identify Bitcoin, but would limit the state’s crypto investment into assets that have a minimum market value of $750 billion, a criterion that only Bitcoin currently meets.

26 Bitcoin reserve bills now introduced in the US

Introducing identical bills is not uncommon in the US and is typically done to speed up the bicameral legislative process so laws can pass more quickly.

Bills to create a Bitcoin reserve have been introduced in 26 US states, with Arizona currently the closest to passing a law to make one, according to data from the bill tracking website Bitcoin Laws.

Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Arizona currently leads in the US state Bitcoin reserve race. Source: Bitcoin Laws

Pennsylvania was one of the first US states to introduce a Bitcoin reserve bill, in November 2024. However, the initiative was reportedly eventually rejected, with similar bills also killed in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Related: North Carolina bills would add crypto to state’s retirement system 

Law, Bitcoin Regulation, United States, Policy, Bitcoin Reserve

Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wyoming are the five states thathave rejected Bitcoin reserve initiatives. Source: Bitcoin Laws

According to a March 3 report by Barron’s, “red states” like Montana have faced setbacks to the Bitcoin reserve initiatives amid political confrontations between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

Additional reporting by Helen Partz.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

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Environment

Hyundai’s super-efficient Ioniq 6 updated with sportier look, ‘N’ model coming soon

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Hyundai's super-efficient Ioniq 6 updated with sportier look, 'N' model coming soon

Hyundai has unveiled the design refresh of its Ioniq 6 sedan, and announced that it will become a family of cars rather than a single model, with an N Line trim and upcoming N performance model, much like its sister car the Ioniq 5.

Hyundai has been doing great with its EVs lately, hitting sales records and getting great reviews.

Much of that focus has been on the Ioniq 5, an attractive crossover SUV with lots of capability at a good price – and a bonkers N performance version which has been breaking different kinds of records.

The Ioniq 6, conversely, hasn’t attracted quite as much attention, even though it has some records of its own (it’s the most efficient vehicle in the US… for under $70k).

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Between its admittedly odd looks – much more aerodynamic and rounded than the comparatively blocky 5 – and it fitting into the less-popular (but better) sedan form factor, it just hasn’t captured as much imagination as the 5.

It has also fallen somewhat behind. The Ioniq 5 got a big update this year, including a native NACS port, the first non-Tesla mass market vehicle to hit the road with one of these included (and it even charges faster than a Tesla does on home turf). The 6, however, is still sitting on its original design from when it first started production/shipping in 2022/23.

But that’s about to change, as Hyundai is giving the model some love with a design update and some hints at new things to come.

We’ve seen spy shots of these design updates before, but now Hyundai is showing them to everyone at the Seoul Mobility Show.

Hyundai showed two models today, the standard Ioniq 6 and the “N Line,” an upgraded trim level with some interior and exterior changes to look a little more sporty. Hyundai has used similar nomenclature for its other models, and that carries over here.

Both have a redesigned front end, making it look more aggressive than the prior bulbous and aerodynamic shape, and narrower headlights.

The N Line looks even more aggressive than the standard model, though, with an even more aggressive front and rear end.

Hyundai says that the redesign will also include interior enhancements for “a more comfortable, intuitive experience,” with a redesigned steering wheel, larger climate control display, upgraded materials and redesigned center console with more physical controls.

Beyond this, the refresh was light on details – intentionally, with a full unveil of specs and changes coming later. We can imagine a lot of the improvements on the 2025 Ioniq 5 will be carried over, such as a native NACS port for example, and potentially a slightly larger or faster-charging battery.

We had also previously heard hints that an N version (yes, “N” and “N Line” are different, no, we don’t know why they used these confusing names) of the Ioniq 6 is coming, and Hyundai reiterated those hints today – even giving us a glimpse of the car in the background of one of its shots.

Now THIS one looks quite aggressive, with a bigger double wing and potentially some changes to the diffuser (it’s hard to tell from the shot, as the N Line also has a modified diffuser).

The ioniq 5N has earned rave reviews from enthusiasts for its bonkers driving dynamics and comparatively reasonable price for a true performance vehicle. But it’s still an SUV format, and frankly, an SUV will never be a sportscar no matter how many horsepower you put into it (I will die on this hill).

The 6, however, with its sedan shape and footprint, could make for a much more compelling sports package once it’s all put together. So we’re very excited to see what Hyundai can do if they apply the same magic they put into the 5 into a new 6N. Looking forward to July.


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