Florida Sen. Rick Scott is pressing his fellow Senate Republicans to stay in Washington and get to work rather than head home, arguing the party has only a narrow window left to act before Democrats take control of the House and Senate.
Scott made the case Tuesday, November 10, during an interview on Breitbart News Daily, just as the Senate was preparing to leave town despite having arrived only the night before.
“Republican senators are going to get together, and we’re going to see if anybody heard anything,” Scott said ahead of a planned GOP meeting, saying the party needs to figure out its next move.
Reflecting on the midterm results, Scott did not mince words. “I mean, what a terrible night,” he said, adding that Republicans need to decide what they’ll accomplish not just over the next two years but in the next two months while they still hold the majority.
“We’re still a majority. Are we going to get Trump’s judges done? Those are lifetime appointments. Are we going to fund government? Are we going to fund the military? Are we going to pass the SAVE America Act? Are we going to stop trading by members of Congress? There’s a whole bunch of stuff we could do if we stay here, but guess what? We’re leaving today,” Scott said of the chamber’s schedule.
“Oh, you know we got here last night, and the plan is we’re going to leave today,” he said, making clear he disapproved of the plan and questioning whether his colleagues have any real appetite to get things done.
Judges, the budget and voter ID
Scott said that at minimum, Republicans need to confirm President Trump’s judicial nominees now, since that won’t be possible once Democrats take over in January. He said there are 25 judges, all lifetime appointments, currently awaiting confirmation — but argued the Senate’s to-do list shouldn’t stop there.
“On top of that, government funding ends up, ends December 11th. We ought to do that. Right. We ought to make sure we fund our government. We should have listened to Americans and said, ‘Hey, you know what? You guys are spending too much money.’ So … we could balance the budget. Guess what? Trump doesn’t get to balance the budget. Only Congress gets to balance the budget. So we could do that,” Scott said. “We could actually balance the budget.”
Scott also called for passing a voter ID law, a permitting reform bill, and military funding before the session’s window closes.
“These are things that we ought to do. If we were listening to the voters, all right, we would get together today at 9 o’clock … and say, ‘You know what, we heard you loud and clear. We’re staying here until all this stuff gets done, and then we hope you reelect us in two years.’ … ‘But we’re going to get our stuff done. We know you work five days a week. We’re gonna actually work seven days a week until all of our stuff’s done.’ That’s what we ought to be saying.”
Scott framed the moment as urgent and fleeting. “We have two months to pass stuff,” he said. “We are in power for two more months. … Why would you not stay here when you know next year my vote probably doesn’t matter that much. I can vote against stuff, but that’s about it. They’re not going to pass anything I want done.”
Breitbart News Daily airs weekdays on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
