I got a text from somebody who told me I was kicked off.

In late November of 2022, Senator Rick Scott received a text from an aide to Mitch McConnell.

In the new Congress, the TURS message informed him,

Scott would no longer be a member of the Powerful Commerce Committee.

It was the latest rupture in their relationship.

Nothing you can do about it.

All through the 2022 cycle, Scott, then the chair of the National Republican

Senatorial Committee, and McConnell, the Republican leader, hoping to graduate to

majority leader, battled over strategy.

McConnell and his top aides questioned Scott's fundraising prowess, his candidate

recruitment, his policy agenda, and even his decision to take a vacation in the middle of the

campaign. While Republicans took back the House over in the Senate, Democrats

expanded to a one-seat majority. You always have to say to yourself, you know, what else could you always do? I mean, we need to have an overall plan. We didn't, okay, but if you're the NRSC chair, you don't get to do that.

That was driven by the leader of the Senate who made the decision not to have a plan.

He was very clear.

In the middle of being dumped on for that failure, Scott brazenly challenged McConnell for Republican leader, a suicide mission

encouraged by Donald Trump. Scott won 10 votes in that secret ballot

election. He said the text came about a week later. It was

Scott believed retaliation for his challenge. The Scott McConnell feud has never really subsided.

Scott has led a band of senators on the right who have challenged McConnell on top priorities,

such as aid to Ukraine, and voted against crucial legislation that McConnell supported, such as a debt limit extension and continuing resolutions to keep the government funded.

This week, Rick Scott announced that he will once again run for Mitch McConnell's job.

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