‘It Was Pure Retaliation’: The Feud That Will Define the Senate GOP

In late November of 2022, Sen. Rick Scott received a text from an aide to Mitch McConnell. In the new Congress, the terse message informed him, Scott would no longer be a member of the powerful Commerce Committee.

It had been a bad month for Senate Republicans, many of whom blamed their poor performance and Democratic gains on Scott, who was chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. McConnell and his top aides questioned Scott’s fundraising prowess, his candidate recruitment, his policy agenda and even his decision to take a vacation in the middle of the campaign.

Scott fought back by brazenly challenging McConnell for Republican leader, a suicide mission encouraged by Donald Trump. The demotion from Commerce came shortly after his defeat in the secret ballot election.