The News
Sen. Rick Scott hasn’t asked Donald Trump to back his Senate leadership bid even though they frequently talk, including late-night phone calls from the ex-president that wake Scott up.
Still, he’s hoping he will get the support of the Republican presidential contender, who has been strengthened by Joe Biden’s bad debate performance. After all, Scott was the first lawmaker to make a public stop at Trump’s trial over hush money payments.
“He said he was excited that I was getting into the race,” Scott told Semafor, referring to Trump. “I hope I’ll get his support. I think I’d be a good Republican and, hopefully, majority leader to help him get his agenda done.”
Scott’s last bid to replace Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in November 2022 fell flat with only a quarter of the conference’s support. Now, instead of dethroning the longtime GOP leader, he’ll face “the Johns,” Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota, in what is expected to be a highly competitive election race.
The Florida senator said he’s already making inroads with the current House leadership in hopes of delivering an expansive reconciliation package Speaker Mike Johnson previewed weeks ago. Those conversations, including with Johnson, are taking place more casually at weekly Wednesday night dinners he hosts for House members at his Capitol Hill townhouse.
“It takes both the House and the Senate to get anything done, and so I think it’s important that we build a relationship,” he said. “That’s why I put a lot of time into building my relationship with Speaker Johnson and Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer and other Republican House members.”
Kadia’s view
There’s no guarantee Trump’s nod will ensure Scott’s victory. Senators vote on their leader by secret ballot and as one former aide put it, “The Senate doesn’t like to be told how to Senate.” But the relationship between the two would prove valuable either way should Trump take the White House.
Scott is part of a cohort of senators already laying the ground for a more conservative Senate with term limits, committee revamps, and holding the line against Democrats, according to Politico.
is pitch to his fellow lawmakers centers on drawing everyone into the conversation and reversing the top-down approach that has dominated congressional decision-making, saying the Senate Republican leader is not “a dictatorship.”
“Are we going to have a leader who is going to dictate our policies? Or are we going to have a leader that is going to help us do the things we all campaign on?” Scott said.
Among the policy changes, he would consider doing away with the power a party leader has to truncate the Senate’s amendments process, a debate that has stalled the upper chamber, nearly causing a government shutdown.
“I think each one of us needs to have the opportunity to have amendment votes on the Senate floor,” he said.