Sen. Rick Scott of Florida is weighing in on some of the biggest fights in Washington right now.
On this episode of “The Sitdown with Alex Swoyer,” he discusses the Fauci contempt fight, the path forward for voter ID legislation, and his read on the most competitive Senate races heading into 2026.
[SWOYER] Senator Rick Scott represents the great state of Florida in the upper chamber, a seat he has held since 2019. Prior to that, he served as governor of the Sunshine State. Senator Scott chairs the Senate Republican Steering Committee, where he has been a unifying force for conservative members and has coordinated legislative strategies. As an ally of President Trump, Senator Scott is pushing forward on his America First agenda.
The first question I’m sure you get all the time, but it’s about the Save America Act. Senator Thune says the math just isn’t there to get it done. What’s your take? Is there anything that he hasn’t tapped into yet that might get this across a hurdle?
[SCOTT] Well, first off, we have had 50 votes. All across the country, people want voter ID. They also want people to prove they’re American citizens registered to vote. So I think what we ought to be doing is we ought to be putting it out on the floor. Let’s see. Let’s see where the votes are. And then if we can’t pass the whole thing, let’s say, well, can we pass voter ID? Can we pass? You have to be an American citizen to vote. And then we ought to be voting on it every week.
And then what we’re doing now is we’re looking to see if we can get something done through reconciliation. So we might be able to get something done through reconciliation. The House passed it in their reconciliation bill, so that’s what we’re working on now.
[SWOYER] Okay, and that would probably be sometime September-ish, right?
[SCOTT] Yeah, we need to get started, though. We’re only, you know, unless we don’t go on recess, we’re only here through next Thursday. So we’ll need to get it started now to get it done in September.
[SWOYER] What would that look like? Like
[SCOTT] The two most important ones are voter ID, and you have to be an American citizen registered to vote.
And so you’ve got to make sure it’s monetary, which, you know, it looks like what the House did makes it that way. So if you can, then we can get it past the parliamentarian. And I think we have 50 votes to get that done. That’s all it’ll take.
[SWOYER] So there’s not that 60 vote…
[SCOTT] Not for reconciliation. Because reconciliation is budgetary. It only takes 50 votes plus the vice president.
[SWOYER] I know that’s been a big issue for the base.
Also, Dr. Fauci, his testimony, or lack thereof, he says it was a trap. I want to give you a chance to respond to that statement. And then also it seems like next week there could be a vote to hold him in contempt. Does that have a filibuster element there?
[SCOTT] No, I think he’ll get held in contempt. We’re going to vote on it next week. He had a pardon, so there was no limitation. I mean, if we ask him about something after the pardon date, maybe, but we didn’t. I don’t think anybody asked him anything after the pardon date. All he did was tell the truth. But what was crazy is what he said publicly was different than what he said in his diary.
And then, you know, he just made stuff up. And look what he did to us. People that lost their loved ones and never were able to say goodbye. They couldn’t go to their funerals. If you’re pregnant, you had no earthly idea…
[SWOYER] That was me during that period. Here in D.C., it was a very big push to get vaccinated. There was not very much known for pregnant women. Even labor was an issue in the hospital at the time.
[SCOTT] Oh, yeah, did you know, did you not? And then you have kids, do you give them a vaccine? And they pushed all this stuff.
[SWOYER] And the school issue.
[SCOTT] Oh, and then you couldn’t go anywhere without a mask. And so, I mean, there was no basis for it. And remember how they told us, oh, if you get the vaccine, you’ll never have COVID? Complete lie.
[SWOYER] Right.
[SCOTT] And they act like there was no natural immunity, which there is. So many people died. They died. Look, it’s horrible that we had to wear masks. It’s horrible that they messed up the schools. It’s horrible that they changed all the rules. But people died because of him.
[SWOYER] Yeah, I remember one of the diary entries. Can’t recall exactly which one it was, but it was on one of the most deadly days. And I think his focus in his diary at the time was about his media coverage, who he was talking to, having dinner with the Tappers, that sort of thing.
[SCOTT] After he said we shouldn’t have small gatherings, he was doing it.
[SWOYER] Is there any other way to get him to speak? Potentially going to district court? Is there a way to challenge him?
[SCOTT] I know they’re going to look at it. They’re going to look at it to mandate he speaks. He’s going to get held in contempt because all he had to do is tell the truth. He had a pardon. He had a presidential pardon. It might be a joke because it was autopen, but he still had it.
Right now, at least, they’re still enforceable. So all he had to do was tell the truth.
[SWOYER] Once he’s held in contempt, does that mean we’re going to see the sergeant-at-arms go arrest him, or how does that work?
[SCOTT] Well, we saw what happened to Peter Navarro.
[SWOYER] True.
[SCOTT] He went to prison. Didn’t Steve Bannon go to prison for contempt?
[SWOYER] Yes, for four months.
[SCOTT] So let’s see what happens.
[SWOYER] Let me ask you about November. You’ve headed the NRSC before. What’s your prediction about the Senate? Are there particular races that you have your focus on?
[SCOTT] Well, I think we’re going to keep control. Here’s the races that are competitive. One, Susan Collins. Susan Collins always wins. Ohio, John Husted’s up. Sherrod Brown’s running, so it’s a harder race. But John’s a great senator, and Trump won big, so I think we’ll win there.
Dan Sullivan has a hard race, especially since they have another guy named Dan Sullivan they allowed on the ballot. But Dan’s always been able to win. I think we have a shot in Georgia. We have a governor’s race there. Rick Jackson won. And so I don’t think people are going to vote for Rick Jackson and then vote for Ossoff.
North Carolina’s hard. But I think we can win there. That’s probably, of all those, that’s the hardest race. So I think we’ll keep a majority, and we might pick up. We could pick up Michigan with Rogers. We could pick up New Hampshire with Sununu. So I think we’ll keep a majority, but I think we have a shot to increase.
Watch the video for the full conversation, including the Todd Blanche nomination for Attorney General, the Safe Kids Act, the Clear Labels Act and much more.
Read more: Sen. Rick Scott, ex-campaign chair, says Senate GOP is on track to hold majority
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