Burchett ‘100%’ Willing to Defy GOP Leadership if Appointed to Senate

Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee is making his pitch to become the next senator of the Volunteer State, seeking an appointment from Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn. He says he’s willing to defy party leadership in the role, if necessary.

“I think I’d be a conduit for good legislation. I think too many times legislation just goes to the Senate and dies,” Burchett, who has been serving in the U.S. House since 2019, told the Daily Signal.

“I have polling … that I was double digits above just about everybody else who was even being considered, and I think I can do the job. I can hit the ground running. I can raise the money, and I have a statewide network already in place,” he said.

Blackburn is set to vacate her Senate seat in January after winning the November governor’s race. In her new role, she will have the power to appoint someone of her choice to fill it. Under Tennessee law, the appointed senator will serve until the state holds its November 2028 election to choose someone to serve the remainder of Blackburn’s term, which ends in January 2031. Current reporting likewise describes the appointee as serving through 2028, when voters will choose a senator in a special election.

When asked if he would be willing to defy party leadership, Burchett said “100%.”

“It just depends on the issue, on what they do and what’s said. So if it’s something I would agree with, I would go to the wall with it with them for it. But if it wasn’t, I would fight it, just like I do in the House. Nothing would change, just like I’ve done my entire political career,” he vowed.

Burchett spoke about the appointment on “The Todd Starnes Show” Monday morning.

“I had an off-the-record conversation with a fairly prominent member of the media that said [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune had sent the word out that he does not want me because I would not be—I would not do—what leadership told me to do type thing,” Burchett told Starnes.

Burchett emphasized to the Daily Signal that this was something a reporter had told him, not something he had heard from Thune himself.

“I don’t even know if Thune knows who I am. … It would surprise me that he had me in his thought process,” Burchett told the Daily Signal.

According to a source close to Thune, the majority leader has “not had a single conversation with Blackburn on the topic.”

Burchett also said he has not yet spoken with Blackburn about his desire to be appointed.

“Up to the point of the election, it wouldn’t have been legal or ethical, and I saw her on election night, and I did not bring it up. … There’s plenty of time between now and January when she would officially make that appointment,” he continued.

Burchett said he was not going to weigh in on the upcoming Senate leadership elections and is focused on the House leadership elections. He has not publicly supported anyone running for House leadership positions but says he will “pray about it and make that decision when the time comes.”

At the time of publication, Blackburn had not yet responded to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.

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