In an internal election Wednesday, Senator Rick Scott failed to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from his GOP leadership role in the upper chamber.
A majority of GOP senators voted to reinstate McConnell 37-10-1, with one senator voting present, CNN reported. The vote was held after a motion to postpone the leadership election until after the Georgia runoff race in December failed. During that closed-door meeting Tuesday, 16 senators voted to delay the leadership elections.
When asked at a press conference Wednesday whether he’d consider stepping down after presiding over the GOP conference for 15 years, McConnell responded, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “I’m not going anywhere.” pic.twitter.com/3e9hAxOaxF
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 16, 2022
Scott confirmed Tuesday that he intended to challenge the veteran Republican leader.
“I’m writing to you today because I believe it’s time for the Senate Republican Conference to be far more bold and resolute than we have been in the past. We must start saying what we are for, not just what we are against,” Scott said in a letter to GOP colleagues Tuesday. “I do not believe we can simply continue to say the Democrats are radical, which they are. Republican voters expect and deserve to know our plan to promote and advance conservative values.”
The two had sparred on political strategy leading up to the midterms, particularly over a GOP policy framework Scott insisted on releasing despite the objections of party leaders who believed it would paint a target on Republican backs ahead of the midterms. The framework included a sunset provision that would require nearly all federal spending programs to go through a renewal vote every five years. The plan would make Medicare and Social Security more vulnerable to budget cuts, the Biden administration warned throughout October and November. However, McConnell assured that Scott’s plan “will not be part of a Republican Senate majority agenda” earlier this year.
Scott’s push to put McConnell’s leadership to a vote suggests he faulted the minority leader at least partially for the GOP’s abysmal performance in the midterm elections. The GOP has been caught in a blame game since the flop, pointing fingers at figures and phenomena ranging from former president Trump, to Gen-Z turnout, to McConnell’s decision to withhold financial backing from certain candidates.
As it stands, the GOP has secured 49 seats in the senate to the Democrats’ 50 seats, with the former having lost one and the latter having gained one this cycle, according to ABC News. With incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto’s win in Nevada to Republican Adam Laxalt, the Democrats are projected to retain control of the Senate.