FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican isnt ready to support Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to stay as the top Republican as the GOPs leadership elections fast approach.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in an interview with Fox News Digital, argued that whoever would be the next to lead the Senate GOP and earn his vote in the process needed to lay out a plan on how Republicans would pass key agenda items heading into the lame-duck session of Congress before Senate Democrats take control in January.
Thune plans to run again for another term as the GOP leader, but Scott and a cohort of others want to delay Tuesday mornings leadership elections to debrief after stunning losses across the board on Election Night. Whether hell support Thune for another term depends on his pitch.
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“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” Scott said. “I mean, I think the first step is what do we want to accomplish? And then anybody, including John Thune, if they want to be that, the first thing I have to say is, Do they want to do that?”
“If that’s not what they want to accomplish, then why would we elect them? But if that’s what they want to accomplish, then tell us why they’re the best at it,” he continued.
Senate Democrats flipped the upper chamber with wins in red states across the country, clinching a 54-seat majority that could grow even more depending on the outcomes of outstanding races in Mississippi and Alaska.
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That gives Republicans little time with a trifecta in government to ram through key remaining agenda items before Democrats officially take over.
Thune still plans on running for leader, too, despite the grumbling among Republicans. He said on Monday after lawmakers returned to Washington that he expected a “very engaged conversation” ahead of the leadership election.
“We’ll see where it goes from there, but, yeah, I’m running for leader, and I think it’s important that we have that discussion, and we will,” Thune said.
Scott said that he wants the candidates to be “specific” on how they can balance the budget and pass a slew of legislation, including a stock trading ban for lawmakers, permitting reform, the National Defense Authorization Act and the SAVE America Act.
All of that, he said, would be a show that Republicans are listening to voters after getting pummeled in the midterms.
“Back home, they don’t care about anything other than do we make their lives better,” Scott said.
Thune is so far running unopposed for the top job â Scott reiterated that he had no interest in running again, trying twice for the gig, once against Sen. <a href="https://foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-returns-months-long-absen
