Ted Cruz calls McConnell's dispute with GOP Sen. Rick Scott 'petty bickering' as GOP senators urge them to mend their rift

• Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott are feuding over the Florida Republican's "12 point plan" yet again.
• It comes after Biden used the plan to bash the GOP during his State of the Union address.

The long-simmering intra-party feud between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rick Scott is boiling over once more — this time due to a well-placed attack line from President Joe Biden.

"Can't we all just get along?" mused Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.

"I don't think we need petty bickering within the Republican conference," said Sen. Cruz of Texas.

It all started at the State of the Union last week, when Biden used Scott's now-infamous "12 point plan" to argue that the Republican Party is seeking cuts to Medicare and Social Security; the sixth point of Scott's plan calls for sunsetting all federal legislation in five years.

Scott, for his part, has insisted that he does not wish to cut Social Security and Medicare, and announced on Friday that he would introduce legislation to protect the two programs even as he stands by his original proposal.

But McConnell was asked about the line of attack last week on a local Kentucky radio station, where he opted to bash Scott's plan as a political loser — while tacitly accepting the premise that Scott's plan would target the programs.

"It's just a bad idea," McConnell said of Scott's plan. "I think it will be a challenge for him to deal with this in his own re-election in Florida, a state with more elderly people than any other state in America."

Scott didn't hesitate in pushing back on McConnell's criticism.

"I mean, he's taking Biden's position," Scott told Insider at the Capitol on Tuesday.

McConnell's unusually harsh words for Scott have quickly drawn the attention of other Republicans — and a sense of frustration at the efficacy of Biden's use of Scott's plan to bash the GOP.

"They're good at that," observed Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, referring to Biden's use of the plan. An ally of Scott, Braun said that the defensive posture the GOP has been backed into on this issue is "typical for anything in Washington."

Other Scott allies have been publicly critical of McConnell's approach.

"Would [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer ever do this to any member of his conference?" mused Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah on Twitter over the weekend.

'Petty exchanges'

On Tuesday, McConnell again reiterated that Scott does not speak for the party at his weekly press conference, while betraying frustration with the fact that the issue "continues to come up."

"There is no agenda on the part of Senate Republicans to revisit Medicare or Social Security. Period," he said. "I've noticed that the speaker of the House has said the same thing."

For McConnell and Scott, it's just the latest turn in a long-running conflict between the two men that began when the Florida Republican served as chairman of Senate Republicans' campaign arm. Scott released a policy agenda that originally included a provision that would've raised taxes on most Americans, prompting McConnell to publicly disavow the plan. The Florida Republican later challenged McConnell for his job, only to garner just 10 votes before exiting leadership.

He also recently accused McConnell of kicking him off the Senate Commerce Committee, though McConnell has denied that the decision was driven by any "animus."

But the conflict is also downstream of a larger conversation within the GOP about how to pursue cuts to government spending, particularly as the United States approaches the debt ceiling this summer.

Sen. Josh Hawley defended Scott in an interview with Insider, noting that Scott "has said many times that he never intended for it to sunset Social Security and Medicare."

But the Missouri Republican, who says he wants to shield the two programs from any debt-ceiling related conversations, noted that other members of his party have openly called for these kinds of cuts, despite the political downsides.

"If you want to go out and say that you want to change Social Security and Medicare, go right ahead," said Hawley. "But you're gonna have to deal with the consequences."

For now, Republican senators insist that the Scott-McConnell spat has little import beyond the halls of the Capitol — and that Scott has little to worry about in 2024.

"I think Rick is well positioned to win," said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. "He's won many winning campaigns, and I have a lot of confidence in him."

Cruz dismissed McConnell's attack on Scott's electability.

"The petty exchanges in Washington rarely have an impact back home," said Cruz. "Rick Scott's gonna win reelection in Florida easily."