Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has been removed from the key Commerce Committee by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
The move comes after Scott's unsuccessful bid to replace McConnell as leader of the Senate Republicans. Also ousted from the committee was Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who had backed Scott's effort, The Hill reported.
"McConnell got to pick," Scott said. "He kicked me off ... he kicked Lee off."
Scott said he was notified of the decision in a text message. A source told The Hill that Scott was left furious.
"What did he expect?" one Republican senator said. The unidentified lawmaker said Scott took a risk by questioning McConnell's leadership.
The challenge by Scott had escalated a long-simmering feud between Scott, who led the Senate Republican's campaign arm in 2022, and McConnell over the party's unsuccessful approach to try to reclaim the Senate majority, The Associated Press reported.
"If you simply want to stick with the status quo, don't vote for me," Scott said in a November letter to Senate Republicans offering himself as a protest vote against McConnell.
But The Hill noted McConnell said in November he didn't have any hard feelings about Scott's unsuccessful bid to replace him. McConnell won by a vote of 37-10.
"I'm not in any way offended by having an opponent or having a few votes in opposition," he said after he was reelected. "I'm pretty proud of 37 to 10."
The Hill reported that Scott was informed at a Senate Republican conference lunch that it was McConnell and no one else who made the call to remove him from the committee.
One Republican aide pointed out that Scott and Lee already serve on other prime committees and the group of incoming senators wanted seats on commerce.
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