Over in the House, new Speaker Kevin McCarthy is busily kicking troublesome, scandal-plagued Democrats from high-profile committee assignments.
McCarthy’s latest push came Thursday when in a party-line vote, the GOP ousted far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
But in the Senate, GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is trying something different.
He’s removing other Republicans from committees.
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On Thursday, the New York Post reported that McConnell removed Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah, two staunch conservatives, from the Commerce Committee. The influential committee oversees matters such as interstate commerce, science and technology policy, and transportation, the Post noted.
McConnell reportedly zapped Scott and Lee for daring to challenge him in the last GOP Senate leadership contest, which came after Republicans underwhelmed at the ballot box and failed to recapture the chamber.
“This is what happens when you challenge leadership,” Scott said in a statement to the Post.
“It was McConnell’s decision to remove someone who has actually run businesses and ran the third-largest state from a committee I’ve served on for four years. You’ll have to ask him why,” he added.
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Scott garnered 10 GOP votes in his challenge to McConnell. Lee had formally nominated him for the job.
On Twitter, Scott added afterward, “Our job is to represent the people of this country and fix our economy. That’s exactly what I intend to do.”
After the decision was announced, according to the conservative website Florida’s Voice, Scott also circulated a tweet by Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA, who said, “Mitch McConnell just booted Senators Mike Lee and Rick Scott from the Senate Commerce Committee. These are two of the best senators in the country. Their crime? Challenging Mitch McConnell. The DC swamp strikes again.”
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