Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Georgia who has positively fought for the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, is Speaker Mike Johnson’s choice for a recently vacated seat on the strong Rules Committee.
Republicans on Capitol Hill were irritated by Scott’s choice on Wednesday. The response to Johnson, R-La. ,’s choice of someone who is openly trying to unseat one of the House’s most prominent liberals ranged from horror to sorrow.
A Republican representative told The Daily Signal,” This is the wrong man for the wrong position at the wrong moment.”
By picking Scott for the Rules Committee, one of the oldest and most effective in the House of Representatives, Johnson revealed whom he trusts to identify surface activity and improve the author’s agenda.
” It’s difficult to see Johnson’s walk around as anything except needing an attack dog against republicans”, said a former Republican employee, who requested anonymity to speak openly. ” You get the impression he’s going to use Austin Scott to help as a blockade on the Rules Committee and throughout the] Republican ] conference. That’s the message it sends”.
Johnson’s team acknowledged The Daily Signal’s request for comment, but did not give a reply.
Vital of Republicans
Scott, a nearby supporter of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R- Calif., sought the author’s work in October in an sick- fated run against Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
When McCarthy was removed as speaker, Scott issued a statement outlining what the eight members who voted to reduce McCarthy were “nothing more than grifters who have handed control of the House to the Democratic Party in the name of their own brilliance and fundraising.”
According to Scott,” Democrat leadership will have to decide whether to hold these members guilty or lose the trust of the rest of the conference.” There is no ethical about what they did.
Months after, he took objective at one of the eight in particular: Rep. Bob Good, R- Va., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. Scott donated to Good’s major opponent, John McGuire, in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. Last month, Scott was a included host at a McGuire charity.
Despite Scott’s activities, Johnson handpicked him for a cherished chair on the strong Rules Committee.
” Speaker Johnson keeps saying,’ We’re on the same team, push it off, choose stop this.’ However, he is n’t actually doing anything to stop it, according to a Republican employee who spoke to The Daily Signal. ” Today, Austin Scott, one of the people who started this legal war on the principal campaign trail, is put on the Rules Committee. The speech is n’t ending the war, he’s escalating it by rewarding individuals going after liberals”.
Legislators and team members said Scott is even more angry toward them in private settings despite his public statements exposing his contempt for conservatives.
” He’s got a short fuse and a hot temper”, another Republican member said of Scott. ” Quite honestly, he does n’t have the temperament to be a legislator”.
Scott’s contacts director opted to focus on his short speech on X rather than schedule an interview with The Daily Signal.
The Speaker’s Committee
Known as the” speaker’s committee”, the Rules Committee includes nine Republicans and four Democrats. One of those votes became unoccupied this week when Rep. Tom Cole, R- Okla., won the hand for the House Appropriations Committee.
Two members of the House Freedom Caucus—Reps. Ralph Norman, R- S. C., and Chip Roy, R- Texas—currently serve on the Rules Committee with another conventional- leaning part, Rep. Thomas Massie, R- Ky. Their three seats, combined with four Liberals, are enough to drop the speaker’s programs.
Conservatives were able to gain seats on the panel as part of a deal with McCarthy, which led to his election to speaker in January 2023 after years of being shut out of the Rules Committee and any semblance of negotiation over its membership.
Johnson instead moved quickly without consulting conservatives about Scott’s selection, as McCarthy did when he negotiated with members.
” It is the speaker’s committee, and he can do whatever he wants with it. But in a one- seat majority, there should be a conversation”, a GOP staffer told The Daily Signal. ” You talk to people about who’s interested, who might be a good fit, who might be a productive addition on the Rules Committee”.
A former Republican employee characterized it as a strange move by Johnson.
The former staffer claimed that “you already have conservatives angry at you for a variety of reasons.” ” You have a one- seat majority. You have a pending motion to vacate]the speaker]. It’s not exactly the time to poke the bear”.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R- Ga., filed a motion to vacate March 22, but has not yet forced a vote. If it’s successful, Johnson would lose the speaker’s job, just as McCarthy did before him.
According to a Republican member,” Speaker Johnson lives in peril every day for his job depending on what he does.” ” It’s a dicey situation. There are other candidates who, in my opinion, are interested in being a speaker in the new term.
GOP Civil War
Since joining the US Congress in 2011, Scott has concentrated his efforts on advancing the rural Georgia district he represents. He is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Agriculture Committee. He has a lifetime score of 77 % on Heritage Action’s Scorecard.
According to lawmakers and staff who spoke with The Daily Signal, Scott has also gained a reputation among conservatives on Capitol Hill.
” Austin Scott is a hothead, a notorious hothead”, a Republican staffer said. He frequently loses his temper with other people in conferences. He’s threatened, berated, cursed out members”.
Scott’s decision to endorse Good’s primary opponent, therefore, did n’t necessarily come as a surprise. However, it did anger conservatives, particularly because Johnson has privately counseled GOP members not to engage in primaries between fellow Republicans. The speaker recently made a second appeal at the West Virginia retreat for GOP lawmakers last month.
” Austin Scott endorsed Bob Good’s primary challenger, attended a fundraiser with him”, a Republican staffer said. ” Mike Johnson has given a lecture to the conference about what he calls the hot war on the campaign trail with primaries against incumbent Republicans, repeatedly for several weeks. The moderates started by pursuing Bob Good.
Good, who boasts a 99 % lifetime score on Heritage Action’s Scorecard, joined the House in 2021 after knocking off an incumbent Republican. In January, he assumed the position of chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
One of the at least six House Republicans who is supporting Good’s opponent is Scott. Others include House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers, R- Ala., and Reps. Jen Kiggans, R- Va., Ryan Zinke, R- Mont., Derrick Van Orden, R- Wis., and Morgan Luttrell, R- Texas.
A Republican member told The Daily Signal that” conservatives were pressing the speaker to put an end to the civil war before it escalated.” ” And when he refused to, we let everyone know that we’re not going to take all the casualties”.
Some conservative members have endorsed moderate Republicans in response to this.
Good, for example, is backing GOP challenger Derrick Evans in West Virginia’s 1st District against incumbent Rep. Carol Miller, R- W. Va., a leader of the moderate Republican Main Street Caucus. Its affiliated PAC, the Republican Main Street Partnership, is actively spending money against Good.
Notably, Johnson has withheld his own support from Good, whose primary election is on June 18. A spokesman for the speaker’s political operation did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
