Official Washington, D.C., is taking very seriously the rumors last week that Vermont Sen. and self-styled socialist Bernie Sanders will soon be named secretary of labor by Joe Biden.
But, even with Republican Gov. Phil Scott naming Sanders’ successor should the appointment take place, there is next to no chance Senate Republicans will add a seat to their present 52-48 majority.
Scott, a "never Trumper" who said he voted for Biden, told reporters back in February that if Sanders moved on, he would find a replacement from the same party — that is, an independent — and specifically would want an interim senator who would not run in the special election required to be held within six months.
"I wouldn't think that would be fair," he said. "So I'd probably try to find an independent who is not affiliated with either party and not seeking to become the next senator."
At the time, Scott said his choice for a Senate vacancy would not necessarily caucus with the Democrats as Sanders does. But a few days later, he cleared up any misunderstanding by saying he would pick "a more left-leaning type of independent that would obviously caucus with the Democrats."
Scott cited a tradition of Senate vacancies in the Green Mountain State being filled by senators of the same party as the outgoing senator. Vermont did not have a Democrat governor from statehood in 1791 until 1963, and since then, there has been only one vacancy: that following the death of Republican Sen. Winston Prouty in 1971, to which then-Gov. Deane Davis appointed fellow Republican and Rep. Robert Stafford.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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