Eric Schmitt won Tuesday. How will he and Josh Hawley figure into Senate GOP's future?

When Missouri's attorney general places his hand on the Bible and is sworn into the United States Senate in January, he'll join a chamber racked with partisanship — both between and within parties.

Eric Schmitt, who won the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and represent the Show-Me State for a six-year term, will join Missouri's soon-to-be senior senator, Josh Hawley, on Capitol Hill. The two will be part of a Republican caucus eager to act in response to the last two years of the Biden administration, but could also represent a growing contingent within the GOP looking for new leadership and a more hardline approach to legislating.

Days before the August primary election, Schmitt declined to support Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as the leader of the party if Republicans retake a majority in the Senate.

"Mitch McConnell hasn't endorsed me and I don't endorse him for leadership," Schmitt said at a July campaign event. The day before the general election on Monday, he hadn't changed his tune, telling reporters in Columbia that "I stand by what I said."

Schmitt was joined in that sentiment Monday by future colleague Hawley, who said for the first time that he would vote against McConnell, who has been part of Republican Senate leadership for almost two decades.

"I can't imagine I will (vote for McConnell), no," Hawley told reporters in Springfield, when asked if he would support the Kentucky senator for majority leader. "I'm not sure if any other senator will run or not, nobody has indicated that they would. But my view is that we need new leadership in that position."

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Hawley's disagreements with McConnell were numerous, he said. The Missouri senator disapproved of two bills passed through the chamber with some bipartisan agreement — one to fund infrastructure projects around the country, which Hawley called "a decision to fund Green New Deal priorities to the nth degree," and another designed to prevent mass shootings and invest in mental health initiatives. He opposes continued aid packages being sent to Ukraine as they war with Russia.

Hawley also knocked McConnell for what he viewed as lackluster support for several Republican Senate candidates, including Blake Masters in Arizona and Don Boldoc in New Hampshire. As leader of the caucus and a longtime staple in Republican politics, McConnell and his fundraising machine command a massive war chest. A PAC aligned with him, the Senate Leadership Fund, poured more than $200 million into races this cycle.

"I did not agree with the idea that you go out and badmouth our own candidates in the middle of an election," Hawley said.

If Republicans retake the Senate majority, the person elected as leader would play a vital role in determining policy priorities and how the caucus negotiates both amongst themselves and across the aisle. A departure from McConnell would represent a drastic move for the GOP. Though no opposition to McConnell has been formally announced, Florida Sen. Rick Scott has been floated as a possibility; former President Donald Trump said in an interview Monday that Scott was a "very talented guy."

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Funding for Missouri projects through earmarks likely to dry up

This year marked the return of "earmarks" to the federal budget, in which members of Congress could insert money allocated to specific projects or programs in their districts or states. Missouri was a significant benefactor — thanks almost entirely to Blunt.

Blunt, who during his time in the Senate established himself as a key member of the budget process, steered more than $300 million back to Missouri through earmarks in the budget passed earlier this year. He told The New York Times "it's my last couple of years, so I decided to make the most of it." He steered the fourth-most money of any lawmaker in that budget.

His Missouri colleague, Hawley, did not include any earmarks, as part of a contingent of the Republican Party opposed to them.

"Voters hate them," Hawley said earlier this year. Blunt's successor agrees.

"I oppose earmarks," Schmitt told reporters Monday.

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Asked how he would represent and fight for parts of the state like southwest Missouri in Washington, he maintained that his record of litigation and opposition to the Biden administration showed "that's been my record."

"Just because I oppose earmarks doesn't mean I'm not going to fight for the people in this part of the state," Schmitt said.

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: How Eric Schmitt, Josh Hawley could figure into future of Senate GOP