Both Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida were removed from the Senate Commerce Committee according to a Fox News Digital report. Many Senate Sources have confirmed that both Scott and Lee had been removed as part of the Democrats’ restructuring of the Senate now that they held a one-seat Majority.
Scott’s office also confirmed the removal. Scott told Fox News Digital that he thought Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was responsible for their removal from the panel. He added that he represented the third-biggest state in the country, but that he had been told that it was McConnell who got to make the selection. This is why Scott and Lee were removed.
Scott added that he would not stop and that in his view he had made the right decision when he had opposed and challenged McConnell for the top spot in the GOP Senate. He continued on to say that the Senate GOP conference “needs to change.”
Scott further said that the conference needed to stop yielding to the wants of the Democrats, and had said that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would be a “very good ranking member” of the committee, who he will continue to cooperate on legislation.
The Florida senator added that he believes “McConnell made that decision” because Scott “ran against
Following the win of an extra seat in the Senate by the Democrats, the committees were altered to reflect this new majority position in the New Congress. In the last Congress, the Senate was evenly split, but with the new 51-seat majority one Republican will have to be removed from each committee.
