Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told colleagues this week that top party donors were ''furious'' about the number of Republicans who voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) on Nov. 5, Axios reported.
Scott chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a position primarily focused on obtaining donor support. He was at a donor retreat when the Democratic-controlled House and 13 Republicans passed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly known as BIF.
The bill had previously passed the Senate on Aug. 10 with the support of 19 Republicans.
''Everyone involved in this effort should be proud of what this body has achieved today,'' Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said on the Senate floor, according to NPR. ''The Senate is doing its job.''
At the Senate Republicans' closed-door conference lunch on Tuesday, while delivering a presentation regarding internal polling, the Florida senator reportedly told his colleagues the reaction he received from donors at the retreat.
The donors, according to Axios, complained to Scott it was foolish for any member of their party to help deliver a win to President Joe Biden.
Scott added that some were paying attention to former President Donald Trump's statement, which included referring to Republicans who voted for the bill as ''RINOs'' who ''should be ashamed of themselves.''
''Any interest from good and SMART America First Republican Patriots to run primary campaigns against Representatives Tom Rice, John Katko, Don Bacon, Don Young, Fred Upton (challenge accepted), Andrew Garbarino, Peter Meijer (challenge accepted), David McKinley (challenge accepted), Nancy Mace, Jaime Herrera Beutler (challenge accepted) and Chris Smith? You will have my backing!'' Trump said in the statement.
The day before the lunch, GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska; Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia; Rob Portman, Ohio; Bill Cassidy, Louisiana; Susan Collins, Maine,;and Mitt Romney, Utah, as well as GOP Reps. Don Young, Alaska; and Tom Reed, New York; attended the White House signing ceremony for BIF on Monday, per Axios.
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