Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida have been removed from key committees, with the latter blaming Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for the move.
Fox News Digital reported that “multiple” Senate sources confirmed that the two senators have been removed, the outlet reported, while the chamber “restructures around its one-seat Democrat majority.”
Scott told the outlet he blamed McConnell and added that he also thinks it’s about retribution.
“I represent the third-biggest state in the country,” Scott said in an exclusive with Fox News Digital. “What they told me today at lunch is the way the rules work, McConnell gets to pick. So guess who [were] kicked off? Mike Lee and me.”
He went on to say that he is “not going to back down” and added that he thinks he “did the right thing” challenging McConnell for the GOP leadership spot. He also said he believes that the Senate Republican conference “needs to change” after the party failed to make any gains during the midterms and actually lost a seat after McConnell and the establishment refused to fully back Trump-supported candidates.
“We have to stop giving in to the Democrats,” Scott said, added that he believes Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will serve as a “very good ranking member” of Scott’s former committee and that he will continue to work with him on bills.
Scott added that he believes “McConnell made that decision” because Scott “ran against him.”
Fox News Digital added:
When a new Congress begins, Senate committee memberships are modified to reflect the party breakdown of the Senate.
Last Congress saw committee partisan membership equalized with a 50-50 Senate, but the new 51-seat Democratic majority means one Republican will likely be taken off each committee.
Typically, the senator who is cut from a committee ranks the committee as their third most important panel in their congressional work.
Following the midterms, the GOP establishment closed ranks around McConnell after calls from other Republicans to delay holding a vote on future leadership following the elections, which proved to be less than stellar for a party that expected to win a lot due to President Joe Biden’s unpopularity.
“McConnell lapdog RINO Barrasso refuses to delay leadership vote, pushing ahead for vote this week before GA election is over,” Fox News host and conservative commentator Mark Levin noted on social media platform Gettr, in reference to Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming). “This is how McConnell and his Senate hatchet men continue to hold power over the GOP. And, of course, they continue to get support from their DC media chorus, as demonstrated here earlier.”
His post contained a link to a Breitbart News story that noted:
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) on Friday shut down attempts to remove Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) from his leadership position in the Senate by writing a letter Friday to Republican senators denying their request to delay Wednesday’s leadership vote.
Barrasso, one of McConnell’s top lieutenants, wrote a letter Friday to GOP senators denying their request to delay Wednesday’s leadership vote until after all Senate votes had been counted.
“We look forward to meeting next week with our new and returning members. I expect a full and open discussion beginning at Tuesday’s policy lunch on our path forward,” he wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. “On Wednesday we will meet again for our scheduled conference for elections.”
“I welcome the questions and points made in the letter circulated by Senators Rick Scott, Lee and Johnson,” Barrasso, who is in charge of leadership elections, wrote.
