President-elect Donald Trump’s allies are opening a new front in MAGA’s war with traditionalist Republicans — feuding over the leadership of top Senate campaign groups.
The Battle for Leadership
Typically a little noticed and relatively drama-free affair, hiring at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and its allied GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund has devolved in recent weeks into bickering over whether prospective new leaders are sufficiently loyal to Trump and the movement he created.
And after initially targeting the highest positions, MAGA Republicans’ objections are now extending even to less senior hires. The latest gripe is aimed at Brendan Jaspers, who was just tapped as the NRSC’s political director for the 2026 midterms. The campaign against him has included private efforts to undermine his credentials and, publicly, some pointed social media posts from top Trump allies.
The Concerns
MAGA activists and consultants said their concern about Jaspers stems from his work as director of campaigns at the anti-tax Club for Growth, which opposed Trump in the 2024 primary before later making up with him.
“With all the available talent that is available,” said a top 2024 Trump adviser who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, “the NRSC seems more intent on finding people who only ran efforts against President Trump.”
The person argued that Jaspers “did just that.”
Tom Schultz, the Club’s vice president of campaigns, refuted that claim, saying Jaspers’ work centered on Senate and House races and school-choice advocacy, and that he “did not participate” in the independent expenditures opposing Trump in the primary.
The Broader Struggle
Jaspers has quickly become a flashpoint in a broader struggle to gain influence in the Senate campaign apparatus. MAGA Republicans have complained about hiring choices by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the incoming NRSC chair. And privately even some GOP consultants supportive of Scott are baffled by his decisions that seem primed to antagonize Trump’s orbit.
This intraparty warfare is driven in part by the vacuum caused by Sen. Mitch McConnell’s exit from GOP leadership, in which some Trump allies have moved to gain an advantage in a post-election scramble for power.
Recent Developments
Scott, a more traditionalist Republican, infuriated Trump allies when he attempted to bring on as the committee’s executive director a one-time adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, who became a staunch Trump critic after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
That aide, Stephen DeMaura, was just named deputy executive director, while Scott’s former chief of staff, Jennifer DeCasper was given the executive director role. NOTUS first reported the move. DeMaura was expected to assume the role of executive director — and he was introduced as such at an NRSC event last month. But his hire was not announced publicly. And after MAGA activists openly criticized him, that appeared to change, with Scott on Thursday announcing DeCasper as executive director and DeMaura as her deputy.
Reactions and Ramifications
A spokesperson for Scott did not comment for this story. In a press release sent by the NRSC on the new hires, Scott said, “I’m excited about the organization we are building, the wins we will put on the board, and the results we will deliver for the American people.” The release also touted Jaspers as having “helped elect conservative senators such as Ted Budd, Mike Lee, Bernie Moreno, and Jim Banks.” It said DeMaura “has started, led, and grown political organizations of all types across a more than 20-year career in politics and public policy.”
A Scott aide pointed to posts on X celebrating the staffing moves, including from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who called them “a strong machine of MAGA warriors.”
The recriminations haven’t stopped at Scott, who ran against Trump in the 2024 primary before becoming a devoted ally in the general election.
A consultant deemed insufficiently loyal by some in Trump’s orbit, Kevin McLaughlin, is also not a contender to lead the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC, according to two people familiar with the process, despite rumors that he was in the mix. People who spoke with McLaughlin said he told them he was in the running for the position, spurring threats from close Trump allies that they would form a competing super PAC, but it’s not clear if he was ever seriously considered.
McLaughlin told POLITICO that he had “no conversations with anyone” about taking over at SLF and he strongly disputes the suggestion that he is not loyal to Trump.
The feuding over NRSC hiring has continued, however, and spilled into public view when Chris LaCivita, Trump’s campaign co-chair, took a shot at the committee on X.
“Whoever is making decisions at the @NRSC needs their head examined,” he posted.
Meanwhile, Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who traveled on Trump’s plane during the campaign, bashed Jaspers specifically — before his position was announced — taking to X to highlight his connection to Club for Growth.
Trump and the Club for Growth have a long and complicated history. The Club, a power center for fiscal conservatives, opposed Trump in the 2024 primary. But the group’s president David McIntosh and Trump, who once called it the “Club for China Growth,” made peace in February.
Trump himself has not weighed in publicly on the recent hires at Senate GOP groups. Complaints about staffing stem from people with varying degrees of closeness to the president-elect. And it is possible that some of the disputes may be more driven by the financial interests and personal grievances of political consultants than concerns about the ideological purity of the party. According to Scott’s team, he and Trump are in contact about his staffing.
But two people with knowledge of the hires said some Trump allies wanted Dylan Lefler, a former campaign manager for MAGA ally Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), to be the group’s political director. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
And the infighting underscores the battle to reshape the traditional GOP into a party in the mold of MAGA wing — and it marks a stark contrast from the tenure of the departing NRSC Chair Steve Daines, who judiciously courted Trump and his allies as he sought to retake the Senate majority in 2024.
Scott’s hiring moves in particular have surprised some GOP strategists, who see them as unforced errors that cause distracting fights with MAGA loyalists. Scott and Trump have a personal relationship, and he was under consideration to be vice president. But any awkwardness between their top staffers could hamper the NRSC as it seeks to grow its majority — especially because there will be so many competing demands on the president-elect’s attention to help various campaign groups with tasks such as fundraising or recruitment.
Scott makes hiring decisions at the campaign arm, but incoming Senate GOP leader John Thune will be heavily involved in staffing the SLF super PAC.
SLF was long run by top McConnell lieutenants, who played a prominent role in selecting aides for the Senate campaign groups. SLF’s current president, Steven Law, announced after the election that he would vacate the post.
The super PAC and its allied nonprofit will direct hundreds of millions of dollars of spending in Senate races. Former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) was recently named as chair of its board but the top staff position remains open.
