Senate majority leader contender Rick Scott, R-Fla., agreed Sunday to President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for more leeway in making appointments—a display of loyalty to Trump that further cements Scott’s role as frontrunner, with backing from allies like Elon Musk, days before the Senate is expected to elect a new leader.
US Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) speaks on stage during "Turning Point's The Peoples Convention" at ... [+]
Weighing into the leadership race for the first time, but stopping short of endorsing a candidate, Trump wrote Sunday on social media the next Senate majority leader “must agree to allow recess appointments,” which are temporary appointments made by the president without Senate approval when the upper chamber is in recess—which would make Trump’s cabinet picks less dependent on passing the Senate.
Scott, a staunch Trump ally who won re-election Tuesday, tweeted, “100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible” in response to Trump.
Scott’s chances of beating Republican Sens. John Cornyn, Texas, and John Thune, S.D.—close allies of outgoing Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell who have long been seen as his most likely successors—greatly improved with Trump’s election Tuesday.
Thune and Cornyn also promised to move quickly on confirming Trump’s appointees, with Thune saying, “all options are on the table … including recess appointments ,” while Cornyn tweeted he would “keep the Senate in session until those confirmations occur.”
A coalition of Trump allies have since endorsed Scott, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tucker Carlson, podcaster Charlie Kirk, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and former presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Musk, who became a close ally of Trump throughout his campaign and is expected to have a role in his administration, also tweeted his support for recess appointments on Sunday.
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Senate Republicans will vote Wednesday by secret ballot to select a new leader to replace outgoing Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., when Republicans take control of the upper chamber in January after wresting control from Democrats in Tuesday’s election.
Trump in 2020 threatened to force the Senate into recess so that he could make appointments while Congress was away from Washington during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Democrat-controlled Senate, at the time, used “pro-forma” sessions in part to prevent Trump from making appointments without the Senate’s approval. Trump threatened to use his presidential powers to adjourn Congress so that he could force through the appointments in 2020, a mechanism no president has ever deployed and one the Constitution limits to “extraordinary Occasions.”
Trump on Sunday also called on the Senate to pause confirmations of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees until he takes office and the Senate changes hands, a request Democrats—who will control the Senate until January—are unlikely to agree to.
Republicans won control of the upper chamber in Tuesday’s election, winning 53 seats to Democrats’ 46, after Democrats held a 51-49 majority during the last two years. Republicans flipped seats in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana and held off challengers in Texas, Nebraska and Florida—where Scott won reelection. The GOP is inching toward a unified government as they are five seats away from maintaining control of the House, though several close races have yet to be called. McConnell announced in February he would step down as Senate majority leader after a 17-year run that makes him the longest serving Senate party leader in U.S. history. McConnell, who has a thorny history with Trump and famously denounced his role in the 2021 Capitol riots, but eventually endorsed his latest presidential run, will serve out the remainder of his term until 2027. He has not said whether he will run for re-election.
Mitch McConnell Will Retire As GOP Senate Leader Ending 17-Year Term (Forbes)
Here’s Who Could Replace Mitch McConnell—As Thune Runs For GOP Leader And Barrasso Bows Out (Forbes)
Who Is Rick Scott? Key Trump Ally—And McConnell Foe—Running For Senate GOP Leader. (Forbes)