Scott accuses NRSC predecessor of improper bonuses

Faced with calls from colleagues for an audit of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the committee’s chairman, on Wednesday, accused his predecessor, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), of paying improper bonuses to staff after the 2020 election, in which Republicans lost the Senate majority.

“When I took over, I immediately became aware that hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized and improper bonuses were paid to outgoing staff after the majority was lost in 2020,” Scott said in a statement released through the NRSC.

“When that’s your starting point, you work really hard to make sure there are transparent processes and we are more than happy to sit down with any member of the caucus to walk them through our spending,” Scott said.

Young led the Senate campaign arm in the last election cycle. His office did not immediately respond to Scott’s claim.

Scott issued the statement after Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) in a meeting Tuesday called for an independent audit of NRSC spending after senators raised questions about spending on a small-dollar donor prospecting program and the total amount spent on independent expenditures.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also criticized the NRSC’s spending decisions at the contentious Tuesday conference meeting.

Some Republican strategists have accused Scott of spending huge amounts on the small-dollar donor development program to use as a donor database for a potential future presidential run.

Scott defenders, however, say he tried to expand the committee’s small-dollar donor pool only to help the committee raise money in the future.

One aide to Scott noted to The Hill after Election Day that the NRSC is fully transparent about its fundraising and spending record as it files monthly public reports with the Federal Election Commission.