Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has angered some of his fellow Republicans by removing a pair of senators who opposed his leadership from committees.
The Kentucky Republican denies revenge as a motive for removing Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who challenged him for his post, and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), one of 10 senators who backed the ouster, from their spots on the Commerce Committee, but McConnell did take public shots at his would-be rival for a proposal to wind down Social Security and Medicare, reported Politico.
“Unfortunately, that was the Scott plan," McConnell said, and suggested Scott could lose his seat over the issue. "That’s not a Republican plan.”
Scott suspects he lost his committee spot as an act of retribution, and he has teamed up with McConnell nemesis Ted Cruz, the ranking member of the Commerce Committee.
“I’m gonna get my stuff done. I work well with Ted Cruz, and he’s the ranking member," Scott said. “So I’ll just work with him.”
Cruz was the last Republican to challenge McConnell so strongly, when he was setting himself up for a presidential campaign by wrangling with the GOP leader, but Scott's leadership bid has caused major fractures in the minority caucus.
“Petty retribution can be a dangerous pattern in this place, particularly with a small body,” Cruz told Politico. “There’s an old proverb: When you look for revenge, you better dig two graves.”
The fiscally conservative Club for Growth, one of the GOP's major campaign contributors, endorsed Scott's re-election by taking a shot at McConnell for his comments about him, and other Republicans also expressed displeasure.
“The leader’s role is to support incumbent senators. He certainly did it up in Alaska,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who backed Scott in the leadership fight. “Certainly don’t denigrate them, don’t say anything negative about them. Financial support is one thing, but just verbal support is his responsibility, so beyond disappointing.”
