By The opinion
Former President Donald Trump has announced his intention to remodel the structure of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
The current president, Ronna McDaniel, previously indicated that she would resign after Saturday’s primary in South Carolina.
In early February, Trump publicly endorsed North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley as RNC chair and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, as co-chair.
He also announced that he planned to install his campaign’s senior adviser, Chris LaCivita, as the RNC’s chief operating officer.
Meanwhile, there are two resolutions circulating within the RNC that potentially, if approved by members, would delay that process.
A member of the Republican National Committee (RNC) on Saturday introduced two draft resolutions that would prohibit the committee from paying former President Trump’s mounting legal fees and would ensure that he remains neutral in the GOP primary race.
The resolutions, shared by Henry Barbour, a Republican National Committee member from Mississippi, were first reported by The Dispatch, and come amid speculation about Trump’s influence in the RNC, before a 2024 candidate is officially chosen.
Lara Trump vowed earlier this month to spend “every penny” of RNC funds to help elect Trump to the White House.
“Every penny will go toward the Republican National Committee’s number one and only task: electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country,” Trump’s daughter-in-law said.
If enacted, Barbour’s proposal would prevent funds from being used to help with Trump’s legal billsamounting to more than $500 million following verdicts in his civil fraud trial in New York and the E. Jean Carroll defamation cases.
“The Republican National Committee and its leadership will remain neutral during the presidential primaries and will not hire additional staff from any active presidential campaigns until a nominee is clearly determined by reaching 1,215 delegates,” part of the proposal read, according to NBC News .
The other proposal, according to the media, reads: “Spending any RNC financial resources for any candidate’s personal, business or political legal expenses, unrelated to the 2024 election cycle, fails to meet the RNC’s primary mission of helping elect to our candidates in 2024.”
The former president’s two political action committees already spent more than $50 million in legal fees last year, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
The proposals were not well received by the Trump campaign.
“The primaries are over and it is the sole responsibility of the Republican National Committee to defeat Joe Biden and take back the White House,” said Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita. “Efforts to delay that help Joe Biden in the destruction of our nation. “Republicans cannot stand by and allow this to happen.”
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