Sen. Rick Scott Silent on Run for Majority Leader Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., speaks on the economy during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 4. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty)
By Brian Pfail | Monday, 07 November 2022 11:39 AM EST
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, remained silent Sunday on whether he will be running for majority leader if Republicans regain control of the upper chamber.
"I’m not focused on anything except getting a majority Tuesday night,” Scott said to NBC’s Chuck Todd when asked if he would consider running. “Everybody wants to ask me about a bunch of things that are going to happen after Tuesday night, and my whole focus is Tuesday night.”
Scott acknowledged the difference of opinion with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who claimed he was worried about GOP “candidate quality.” However, former President Trump’s endorsed nominees have been successful overall.
“Sen. McConnell and I clearly have a strategic disagreement here … We have great candidates,” Scott told Politico in August. “He wants to do the same thing I want to do: I want to get a majority. And I think it’s important that we’re all cheerleaders for our candidates.”
McConnell has distanced himself from Scott’s memo that laid out his vision for the GOP agenda if Republicans take the Senate. It included provisions to require all Americans to pay some income tax and sunset all federal laws after five years.
Rather than discussing the policy, McConnell attempted to use the midterms to target President Biden, whose approval ratings have remained abysmal.
“We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years,” McConnell said during a press conference in February.
Scott has removed the income tax provision, while Democrats have laid into the agenda claiming the provision to automatically sunset legislation would end Social Security and Medicare.
“There’s a guy name Sen. Rick Scott of Florida who's in charge of electing the Republicans in the Senate. He’s the guy pushing [Pennsylvania Republican Senate nominee Mehmet] Oz,” said Biden during a rally in Philadelphia on Saturday.
The President then held up a copy of Scott’s agenda, saying, “I’m going to quote what they say about Social Security: ‘All the federal legislation sunsets in five years. If that law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.’”