Former President Donald Trump’s efforts to restructure the Republican National Committee (RNC) may be hindered by two resolutions currently under consideration within the committee, as per a draft of the resolutions obtained by CNN.
The first resolution aims to ensure that the RNC and its leadership maintain neutrality and refrain from hiring additional staff from any Presidential campaigns until a nominee is definitively determined by securing 1,215 delegates. Trump, who has been leading the early-voting contests this year, is nearing the Republican presidential nomination. His campaign officials recently indicated that their calculations show Trump is on track to secure enough delegates to become the Republican nominee by March 19 at the latest.
Earlier this month, Trump announced his plans to appoint senior adviser Chris LaCivita as the RNC’s chief operating officer. He also publicly endorsed North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley for RNC chairman and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, as co-chair of the RNC.
LaCivita stated on Saturday, “The primary is over and it is the RNC’s sole responsibility to defeat Joe Biden and win back the White House. Efforts to delay that assist Joe Biden in the destruction of our nation. Republicans cannot stand on the sidelines and allow this to happen.”
Whatley is widely expected to succeed current RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who has offered to step down following Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary. When asked about her preferred choice for RNC chair if McDaniel steps down, Nikki Haley, Trump’s last major rival in the GOP primary, humorously suggested that it wouldn’t be a family member.
“It wouldn’t be the family member of a candidate,” the former South Carolina governor said. “It wouldn’t be someone who says that all the money is gonna go to Donald Trump when I know that $50 million of campaign contributions went to legal fees last year.”
According to Federal Election Commission records, two of Trump’s political action committees spent over $50 million of contributors’ money on legal expenses last year.
The second resolution under consideration within the RNC would prohibit the committee from covering the legal bills of “either former president Donald Trump or former Ambassador Nikki Haley unrelated to this 2024 Presidential election.”
Henry Barbour, a Republican national committeeman from Mississippi, sponsored both resolutions. Barbour criticized the Trump campaign’s premature moves to install new leadership at the committee. “I think the Trump campaign has jumped the gun on taking over the RNC before it has the requisite delegates,” Barbour said in an interview with CNN. “I just think it’s important that we stand up and follow the rules.”
This story has been updated with additional information. CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.