Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) announcement that he will not run for another term as the Senate’s top Republican has sparked fresh debate about whether to cap the years his successor can serve in the post.

Every position in Senate Republican leadership is term-limited, with one glaring exception. The conference has until this point exempted the role of leader, allowing McConnell to run the conference for more than 17 years.

His decision provides a rare opportunity for members to move up the leadership ranks, but it has also generated divisions over whether that should happen more often.

It was Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), one of two Republicans running to replace McConnell, who initiated the debate. He has staked his candidacy in part on appealing to the conservatives hostile to McConnell’s style of leadership and on Tuesday proposed that conference rules be amended to institute the limits.

Within a day, he was rebuffed by McConnell, who called the change “totally inappropriate.”

“Well, we have term limits now. They’re called elections, and I had a contest myself during my last election as leader,” he said when asked about the proposal at his weekly press conference. “I think the conference ought to be able to be free to choose whoever.”

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), the other Republican running to replace McConnell, has not taken a stance, simply telling reporters that he is not “averse” to the conversation but thinks it’s premature. Yet it will be one of several fault lines as members decide whom to support in a leadership election that is still eight months away.

Conservatives, led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), requested a meeting to discuss the future of the conference, insisting that members should agree on a mission statement before electing a new leader.

But Johnson told the Washington Examiner he is also in the process of drafting a “pretty good list” of proposed rules changes that he hopes members will support. 

Technically, the process for amending those rules is separate from leadership elections, but conservatives will be looking to see what sort of changes, including term limits, McConnell’s possible successors are willing to embrace before committing their vote.

“I want to hear from those who are running for leader what changes, if any, they’d like to see made to the conference rules,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), a member of the fiscally conservative Breakfast Club, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s just one of many issues that I think are gonna come up.”

Cornyn, a senior adviser to McConnell, is tapping into conservative discontent with his call for term limits. Many of the Republicans who want the change opposed McConnell in 2022, when he easily fended off the first leadership challenge of his tenure as the top Senate Republican.

But those members are not the only constituency that will decide the next leader, and even some Republicans who are supportive of the change, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), told the Washington Examiner the question of term limits will not influence their vote.

“I’m not one that’s demanding it, but I think it is helpful,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).

Then there are those who are flatly opposed. Lankford’s Oklahoma colleague, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who is supporting Thune in the race for leader, echoed McConnell in arguing that elections are enough to keep leaders responsive to their conference.

“Every two years, we get to vote on the person, so if he’s not doing a good job, then we can vote him out. If he’s doing a good job, he can stay,” he said.

Term limits have deeply shaped the current race for leader. Thune, the whip, and Cornyn, a prior whip, have maxed out their six years in the post.

The same can be said of Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) in his role as conference chairman. He had been floated as a possible successor to McConnell until he announced he would run for the whip job instead.

Term limits extend beyond leadership. The top Republicans on committees may only serve three two-year terms as well.

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Barrasso noted the conference meeting, which Johnson said may take place on March 20, will give members an outlet for debating whether they should apply to the leader as well.

“Well, people are gonna have to decide what they want to propose, and it’ll be debated, and every time we have a conference, there’s opportunities to discuss those sorts of things,” he said. “We don’t change the rules all that often.”