Potential 2024 GOP hopefuls top list of Senate Republicans opposing Biden nominees

Hawley tops list, with Cruz, Scott and Cotton close behind, in voting no on Biden nominations

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri snapped his streak this week.

After opposing all of President Joe Biden's nominees who've come to a vote in front of the Senate, Hawley voted to confirm Cecilia Rouse, Biden's nominee to chair the Council of Economic Advisers.

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But overall, Hawley has voted against 12 of 13 Biden nominations.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., left, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, speak after Republicans objected to certifying the Electoral College votes from Arizona, during a joint session of the House and Senate to confirm the electoral votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Tied for second at 11 in voting against Biden nominees are Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. And Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has opposed 10 of the Democratic president’s nominees.

What's one thing all four of these senators have in common?

They all may harbor national ambitions and are considered potential 2024 GOP presidential contenders.

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"Senators looking to potentially run for president in 2024 need to do everything that they can to show Republican primary voters that they've fought Biden administration policies with vigor," Lauren Zelt, a longtime Republican strategist and veteran of numerous Senate campaigns, told Fox News. "Voting against Biden administration nominees helps them put together a record of opposing the president."

Doug Heye, a veteran GOP strategist and former Republican National Committee communications director, argued that nowadays in politics, "everything is about demonstrating that you can fight. Talking about your willingness to fight is seen as being as more important than any kind of ability to throw a punch or land a punch."

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It's not just Republicans.

Four years ago, the top six senators who opposed nearly all of then-President Trump's nominees all eventually ran or seriously considered 2020 Democratic White House bids.

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York voted against 20 Trump nominees during the first five months of 2017. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts opposed 19 nominations.

And Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California (now Vice President Harris) and Jeff Merkley of Oregon voted "no" 18 times. All but Merkley eventually launched presidential campaigns.

Sanders – who ended up being the final candidate standing against Biden in last year's Democratic primaries before ending his bid and backing the eventual nominee in April – is the only member of the Senate Democratic conference (Sanders is an independent senator who caucuses with the Democrats) to so far vote "no" against one of Biden's nominees. The progressive champion opposed the confirmation of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

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