Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has been out of the public eye for weeks, following a serious fall that hospitalized him. Now multiple sources confirm that Senators John Barrasso of North Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota are actively reaching out to fellow Republican senators in efforts to prepare for an anticipated leadership vote — a vote that would occur upon announcement that McConnell would be retiring from his duties as leader, and presumably the Senate itself.

One source says that Cornyn has been particularly active in his preparations, taking fellow senators with whom he has little in common to lunch in attempts to court them.

[Hoo boy, if true. The GOP would have to hope that McConnell could fill out his current term of office, which expires in January 2027, even if he needs to step down as caucus leader. If he had to step down from his Senate seat, current Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear would appoint a replacement and flip the seat to the Democrats. He faces re-election this year — Kentucky holds their gubernatorial elections in off years — so the Senate GOP needs McConnell to at least get past the end of the year and hope that they can kick Beshear out of office if McConnell needs to retire before the end of his term. — Ed

Update: VIP member Chris S corrects this in the comments. Kentucky requires its governors to appoint replacement senators from the same party as the person resigning or leaving due to death or other circumstances. The state GOP committee would nominate three potential candidates, and Beshear would choose one from that list. — Ed]