Kentucky U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell was re-elected minority leader Wednesday, fending off a brief challenge from Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
But McConnell showed his firm grip on the caucus. He maintained his leadership position despite a midterm election where the GOP could see its minority shrink further depending on the Dec. 6 run-off in Georgia between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker., tasked to regain a Republican majority. His challenge to McConnell likely leaves the first-term senator on the outs with many of his colleagues, certainly within the leader's inner circle.
Many in the party are unhappy with how Scott led the NRSC, the campaign arm which failed to capture enough seats to win command of the Senate even as the U.S. House is poised to narrowly flip back to Republican control. Earlier this election season, McConnell had cautioned that Republicans risked falling short of gaining the one seat they needed to take the majority, citing “candidate quality” as a reason.
“When I took over, I immediately became aware that hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized and improper bonuses were paid to outgoing staff after the majority was lost in 2020,” he said in a NRSC statement. “When that’s your starting point, you work really hard to make sure there are transparent processes and we are more than happy to sit down with any member of the caucus to walk them through our spending.
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