Mitch McConnell and Senate Republican leaders are warning Rick Scott that his agenda for the GOP could expose the party to unnecessary attacks this fall, a significant intra-party rebuke for the Floridian.
The Senate minority leader, who has declined thus far to release a GOP agenda, advised Scott at a GOP leadership meeting on Monday afternoon that his 11-point proposal gave Democrats ammunition for millions of dollars of ads in the midterms, according to multiple people briefed on the exchange. Though he chairs Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, Scott defended himself by saying he released the agenda in his role as a rank-and-file senator, not as a statement of party plans. The meeting lasted nearly an hour and Scott’s recess-week agenda introduction dominated the discussion.
The exchange between McConnell and his top campaign hand highlights a growing divide in the party as they fight to take the House and Senate, despite bright electoral prospects. While McConnell prefers to keep the heat on Democrats and make the election a referendum on President Joe Biden, some in the party — not just Scott — believe Republicans need a more affirmative agenda.
Scott has launched an ad to promote his agenda and has been unrepentant about roiling his party with fiery proposals, such as sunsetting all federal laws after five years and advising that “all Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game.” Scott said in a brief interview that he’s “not ever going to talk about private conversations but I believe it’s important to tell people what we’re going to do.”
“Republicans, and really all Americans outside of Washington, are demanding that we have a plan to turn our country around,” said Chris Hartline, a spokesman for Scott. “Sen. Scott is not afraid to start this conversation and will continue talking about his plan to rescue America.”
A spokesman for McConnell declined to comment.
Some have speculated that Scott might be girding to challenge McConnell or run for president, charges he has denied. And though Scott launched his agenda in his personal capacity, Republicans said the fact that Scott is the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee has made everything a little messier.
That’s what “makes it a little confusing,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a former two-time NRSC chair.
“This is not an approach embraced by the entire Republican conference,” Cornyn added of Scott’s agenda. “We’re going to keep our focus on inflation, crime, the border and Afghanistan. And some of these other things are things to think about … after the election is over.”
McConnell has wanted to avoid giving Democrats things to criticize over the next eight months, hoping to keep his party on offense. He believes that focusing on Biden’s low approval ratings and running as a check on the Democratic Party is the most effective midterm strategy.
Scott indisputably disrupted that strategy, as Democrats light into aspects of his plan. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that Scott had “proposed everything from raising taxes on low-income Americans to naming a useless and ineffective border wall after Donald Trump.”
And former Rep. Abby Finkeneaur (D-Iowa), who is running for Senate against Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), latched onto Scott’s endorsement of term limits, tweeting on Tuesday that “even the @NRSC Chair is calling for term limits. He called Senators like Chuck Grassley who have sat in DC for DECADES part of the ‘Washington ruling class.’”
An attack like that “sort of validates the strategy that Sen. McConnell is talking about,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who is up for reelection. “You want to be talking proactively about things you would do. But I think most candidates will be making those determinations [based] on their own circumstances.”
Led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans are expected to roll out their own agenda in the summer or early fall. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said he agrees with McConnell that “Democrats are self-destructing on their own” but said that McCarthy and House leaders “made a decision to put on a platform and I’d rather participate than not.”
And it’s possible McConnell and other Senate leaders do eventually put together a broad outline of their goals for the 2022 election. But at the moment that is not the party’s focus.
“We’re wiser to have each senator promote their own view on the issues they care about,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
Though Scott’s platform has roiled some corners of the party, it has some support in the GOP too. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said he’s “on board” with Scott’s blueprint and said the party needed to be thinking about “a universal plan that we need to sell to the American people.”
Scott’s plan is a mixture of fiscal conservatism and the more confrontational style of politics ushered in by former President Donald Trump. Scott wants to treat socialism “as a foreign combatant which aims to destroy our prosperity and freedom” and says the party should “prohibit debt ceiling increases absent a declaration of war.”
He also wants to name the border wall after Trump, drawing a gentle reproach from some of his colleagues.
“Completing the border wall and the broader issue with border security is on the top of mind for the American people,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “What we name it after to me is less relevant than fixing 2 million people coming across the border.”
Because of how the Senate map is shaping up, Scott’s blueprint will only affect a handful of Republicans running for reelection. Just three GOP senators are running in states considered at all competitive: Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
Asked if Scott’s agenda is making his re-election harder, Grassley said “absolutely not.” But he also defended McConnell’s lower-key approach.
“This is just [Scott’s] own personal ideas and just like Chuck Grassley can express my views he can express his,” Grassley said. “As a practical matter you wouldn’t count your chickens before the eggs are hatched … McConnelll is putting all of his effort into winning because if we don’t win in November, there isn’t such a thing as a Republican agenda.”
Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.
