WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Republican members of the Senate Saturday prepared for a Monday conference call in which they will, perhaps by undisputed acclamation, replace Majority Leader Trent Lott with Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist.
The unusual selection procedure was cobbled together out of a need to have a leader already in place and able to run the Senate when it gathers for the new congressional session Jan. 7.
Republican loyalists scrambled to finalize the leadership transfer after Lott announced he would stand aside.
Lott Friday morning suddenly announced he had lost the support of his party after Dec. 5 comments that seemingly endorsed retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential campaign.
"In the interest of pursuing the best possible agenda for the future of our country, I will not seek to remain as majority leader of the United States Senate for the 108th Congress, effective Jan. 6, 2003," the statement said.
"To all those who offered me their friendship, support and prayers, I will be eternally grateful. I will continue to serve the people of Mississippi in the United States Senate," Lott's statement said.
President Bush, some of whose advisers had pushed for Frist behind the scenes, immediately released a statement thanking Lott for acting in the interest of the party and the nation.
"I respect the very difficult decision Trent made on behalf of the American people," Bush said.
"As majority and minority leader of the Senate, Trent Lott improved education for the American people; he led the way in securing tax relief; he strengthened our national security; and he stood for a bold and effective foreign policy," the Bush statement continued.
"Trent is a valued friend, and a man I respect. I am pleased he will continue to serve our nation in the senate and I look forward to working with him on our agenda to make America safer, stronger, and better," the statement concluded.
Lott himself stayed out of sight Friday, with his wife Tricia handing out a note on his leadership stationery at their Pascagoula, Miss. home saying he was not going to speak to the media.
Frist late Thursday released a statement that said he would serve as majority leader if asked. That public move for one of the top political jobs in the country sealed Lott's fate, GOP insiders said.
"We knew Trent couldn't stay but Bill's statement Thursday sealed the deal," one strategist said, adding that Frist's ascension was inevitable.
"We know how the play ends, now it's just a question of how it progresses before the finale," the strategist said. "Trent can make it harder for Bill, but in the end, he'll get it."
Frist is in his second term as senator and is the body's only physician. He has been a high-profile authority on such complex health issues as the debate over use of stem cells, prescription drug coverage for Medicare and even the anthrax attacks on the Capitol last year.
Lott, who has served as Republican leader since 1996, took widespread criticism from most political circles, including Bush, after he proudly noted that Mississippi had voted for Thurmond in 1948.
"I want to say this about my state: when Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him," Lott said. "We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years either."
After further details emerged about Lott's record on race, which included votes against major civil rights bills and previous statements endorsing Thurmond, his support evaporated.
President Bush was informed of Lott's decision at the end of a meeting in the White House situation room -- about 11 a.m. Friday -- with the National Security Council, White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said. Chief of Staff Andrew Card told Bush after being informed himself by one of his staff.
Bush then called Lott, basically conveying the sentiments later expressed in the official reaction. Fleischer said it was a "warm conversation, a good conversation. The two spoke as friends."
A slew of senators threw their support behind Frist, including Kit Bond, R-Mo.; John Warner, R-Va.; George Allen, R-Va.; Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. and a member of the Republican leadership in the Senate, Don Nickles, R-Okla., who had been considered a candidate himself.
Lott loyalist Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell had also considered a run for Lott's job, but GOP sources disclosed he decided not to oppose Frist. Finally Conference Chairman Rick Santorum, R-Pa., indicated he too would support Frist.
There had been speculation that Lott might leave the Senate if he stepped aside as leader, which would jeopardize the slim GOP majority, but his statement made clear he would remain at least through next November.
(With additional reporting by White House correspondent Rick Tomkins)
