Sen. Rick Scott of Florida says he will not back John Thune for another term as Senate Republican leader until Thune, or anyone else who wants the job, lays out a specific plan to pass the party’s agenda before Democrats take over in January. Senate Republicans meet at 9 a.m. today in the Old Senate Chamber to decide whether to hold their leadership elections or put them off.
“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” Scott told Fox News Digital in an interview published this morning. He added, “If that’s not what they want to accomplish, then why would we elect them? But if that’s what they want to accomplish, then tell us why they’re the best at it.”
Scott wants candidates to be “specific” about balancing the budget and passing a congressional stock trading ban, permitting reform, the National Defense Authorization Act and the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. “Back home, they don’t care about anything other than do we make their lives better,” he said.
The letter and the walkout threat
On Monday, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin delivered a letter to Conference Chairman Tom Cotton signed by Scott and Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Budd of North Carolina and John Kennedy of Louisiana. Five signatures is enough to call a special conference meeting under GOP rules, CQ Roll Call reported.
“Holding leadership elections without engaging in a robust discussion and evaluation of how those running for leadership intend to lead would be political malpractice,” the senators wrote. They asked to delay the votes “until we all have a chance to hear from leadership candidates as to what type of collaborative conference governing model we should adopt and what our strategy will be to counter the emboldened Democrats.”
Sens. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Jim Banks of Indiana backed the delay in separate statements. Johnson told reporters that if the election goes ahead, he will walk out of the room. “We need time to talk to each other,” Kennedy said Monday evening.
Thune and the White House
Thune, who has no announced challenger, told reporters he is “open to hearing what the arguments are” but added, “I don’t know if that solves anything.” He said the conference needs “a very fulsome, robust conversation about where we go from here.”
President Trump said Monday the decision belongs to the senators. He called Thune a “very fine man” but said he wishes “they could get more produced,” Semafor reported. A source familiar with the planning told Axios that the election is still expected to go ahead unless a motion to delay wins a majority, which looked unlikely.
The rest of the leadership team, led by Whip John Barrasso, is expected to keep its posts.
The bottom line
I think Scott is asking the right question at the right time. Republicans hold the Senate, the House and the White House for about eight more weeks. Many of the President’s nominees are still waiting for votes. Senators who want to lead should say how they will use those weeks before anyone votes.
Thune may well be reelected this morning, and the delay may fail. Even so, the senators who signed that letter have done the conference a favor by forcing a conversation that should have happened the day after the election.
Whoever leads Senate Republicans should keep the chamber in session through the holidays, confirm the President’s judges and force Democrats to stand on the floor and defend their filibuster of voter citizenship checks.