TALLAHASSEE — President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State has thrust Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis back into the national spotlight with the task of naming Rubio’s Senate successor.

U.S. Senate Republicans will gather behind closed doors on Wednesday to pick their next leader in the face of a public pressure campaign by supporters of President-elect Donald Trump who favor the long-shot bid of a hardline Trump loyalist.

Republican senators will gather behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace longtime Senate leader Mitch McConnell and lead their new majority next year — a decision that could determine the future of the Senate,

Sen. John Thune has won an internal election among Republican senators to become the chamber’s next majority leader

S.D., as the next party leader, launching a new era for the GOP after nearly two decades with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leading the party in the Senate.

Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will lead Senate Republicans. Senate Republicans voted, anonymously, to elect Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) the next Senate Majority Leader, after Republicans flipped the Senate in last week’s election.