BELGRADE, Montana — In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News last month, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), warned of a “radical” plot to seize power in the United States if Democrats gain control of the Senate.
When asked about how Republicans plan to counter that possibility by retaking control of the U.S. Senate, Daines, who heads the party committee tasked with that task, made it clear how narrow the current margin of votes in Congress is, yet the ideological gulf between the two parties is large. Daines noted that since the interview was filmed, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has attracted increased attention for her gaffes during President Joe Biden’s debate, has broken more ties in the Senate than any vice president in history.
“Numerically the gap has never been closer. Last Congress, the Senate was 50-50. This Congress, it’s 49-51. But the ideological gulf between Republicans and Democrats is wider than it’s ever been,” Daines said. “Kamala Harris has broken more ties as vice president than any vice president in the history of our country. There have been 47 vice presidents, and she’s the leader. She’s broken some major, major ties. For example, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package was funded by debt, and it pumped debt into the economy. It caused inflation. You look at the Stop Inflation Act, an incredibly bad bill that Kamala Harris passed with a tie-breaking vote. So look at what’s going on in the Senate right now.”
Daines appeared for more than an hour in a feature-length exclusive interview with Breitbart News late last month at his home outside Bozeman, Montana, and in this second clip, he discusses the big stakes in the 2024 U.S. Senate election.
Daines explained the strategy he has adopted to retake the majority, setting out to find a Republican candidate for the Senate who can unite the Republican Party and lead it to victory in November.
“We need to find a candidate who can win not just the primary but the general election, who can work with President Trump,” Daines said. “The winner makes the policy. The loser goes home.”
Daines has warned that if Republicans do not win a majority in the US Senate this year, Democrats will push through radical policies by abolishing the filibuster, which currently requires 60 votes to pass most legislation, reducing the number of votes needed to just 51. Daines said his radical Democratic policies include expanding the US Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, forcing Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico to each add four new Democratic senators to the Senate, and having the federal government take over running elections across the country.
“The ramifications of losing now are severe, because if we don’t get the majority back and Democrats take control, they’ll blow up the filibuster,” Daines said. “It means Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico will become states, which means we’ll have four Democratic senators forever. They’ll also go from nine to 13 justices on the Supreme Court. They’ll fill the court. And finally, they’ll pass one of their favorite bills, the left’s bill, which is a federal takeover of all elections. The Founding Fathers feared the concentration of power. It’s one of those things that’s about the separation of powers, not just between the federal government and the states – the principles of federalism. This bill would remove all voter ID laws that the states have passed. It’ll all be by mail-in ballots. The deadline to vote would be like 8 o’clock on Tuesday night, on Election Day, and it would take like two weeks to collect all the ballots. So, as you can see, we’ve lost total control of our elections, the left has come into power and done irreparable damage to this country, and it’s going to be very difficult to get a center-right government in Washington again.”
The only reason Democrats have been unable to do this in the past two Congresses is the presence of two senators who, now claiming independence, have since left the Democratic Party and refuse to follow this strategy. Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia are both not running for reelection this term. Despite leaving the Democratic Party, they have not joined the Republican Party and still meet with the Democrats. However, Daines warns that with both senators leaving the U.S. Senate, if the Democrats gain a majority, there will be no opposition left within the Democratic Party to block their radical power grab plans. Daines points to a playbook articulated by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the Democratic candidate in this year’s California Senate election. Had made These goals are clearly expressed in what Schiff calls the interest of protecting “democracy.”
“They tried to ‘nuke the filibuster,’ as they call it, in the last Congress,” Daines said. “But only two Democrats stood with us, Sinema and Manchin, and both have announced their retirements. There are no more Democrats standing up to protect the filibuster. That means we only need a simple 50-plus-one vote to get these radical changes into our legislation. Imagine a Second Amendment or gun control bill that they would pass with just 51 votes. And by the way, don’t take my word for it. Read what Adam Schiff wrote. I’m sad to report, Adam Schiff will likely be the next senator from California. He put this in writing earlier this year. This is their strategy. We can’t let them succeed. That’s why we must have at least 51 Republicans in the Senate by January 2025.”
