alt=Dennis RomboyUtah Sen. Mike Lee and Florida Sen. Rick Scott were removed from the powerful Senate Commerce Committee as it restructures around its one-seat Democratic majority.
Scott told The Hill that he blames Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for the removal.
“McConnell got to pick. He kicked me off; he kicked Lee off,” Scott said.
Scott acknowledged that running against McConnell for GOP leader after the November election was the likely reason he was kicked off the panel despite his relative seniority and experience running a major company.
“I probably ran the biggest company almost any senator in the history of the country has ever run. I was governor of the third-biggest economy in the United States, Florida. I’ve got a business background,” Scott told The Hill.
Lee, who backed Scott for Republican leader, also criticized McConnell, tweeting “Mitch happens” along with the nail polish emoji, which in the digital world carries a variety of meanings including sass, fanciness, nonchalance, indifference or self-confidence.
“He has unreviewable discretion to make certain committee assignments. This was one of those,” Lee also tweeted.
Lee spokesman Lee Lonsberry said the senator would have liked to stay on the Commerce Committee, “but this won’t affect the good work he does for the people of Utah and the nation.”
Lee will now join the Senate Budget Committee, while keeping his assignments on the Judiciary Committee and Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He’s also still on the Joint Economic Committee.
Scott and Lee have teamed up to challenge McConnell’s leadership of the GOP conference on fiscal and spending decisions, and Lee gave one of the nominating speeches for Scott’s bid to take over as GOP leader, according to The Hill.
The news outlet reported that some conservatives believe the leadership fight was a major factor in the decision to remove Scott and Lee from Commerce.
McConnell said in November that he didn’t have any hard feelings after Scott challenged him in an acrimonious race, which McConnell eventually won by a vote of 37 to 10, with one senator voting present, according to The Hill.
“I’m not in any way offended by having an opponent or having a few votes in opposition,” McConnell said after he was reelected. “I’m pretty proud of 37 to 10.”
Scott told Fox News Digital that he is “not going to back down” and that he believes he “did the right thing” when he challenged McConnell, adding he believes the Senate GOP conference “needs to change.”