The person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump allies “will set up our own SLF and compete” with the longtime top super PAC aligned with former Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. “If they don’t change how they approach SLF, we will do it for them.”

SLF and its sister nonprofit One Nation have spent a combined $420 million this cycle. Any group seeking to seriously compete with them would need considerable funds.

MAGA activists on Thursday night unloaded on social media against Stephen DeMaura, a former campaign adviser to Mike Pence. DeMaura is expected to be brought on as the next executive director of the NRSC, according to three people familiar with the decision. He was introduced to attendees at the NRSC’s event for new senators this week as the new executive director, according to two people present.

Neither the NRSC nor SLF have publicly confirmed who will be running the organizations for the 2026 cycle. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who challenged Trump in the Republican presidential primary before endorsing him and making a bid to be his running mate, this week was elected chair of the NRSC. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the new Republican Senate leader who has previously been lukewarm toward Trump, is expected to be involved in choosing who leads SLF.

“There are plenty of experienced managers who’ve won races that could easily run” SLF and the NRSC, the person close to Trump said, “instead of relying on people who just move money and mentally masturbate over spreadsheets.”

Trump’s team has also taken issue with rumors that longtime Republican consultant Kevin McLaughlin is under consideration to be the next president of SLF. Three people who have spoken with McLaughlin told POLITICO that he said he is in the running for the position.

McLaughin, who served as executive director of the NRSC during the 2020 election cycle, told POLITICO he has “had no conversation with anyone” about taking on the role of leading SLF. Regarding Trump officials’ characterization of McLaughlin as one of the “Never Trumpers” they’re concerned about, McLaughlin noted he worked this past cycle on a pro-Trump super PAC in Wisconsin, Badger Values. His firm, Apex Strategies, was a vendor for both the Trump and Nikki Haley campaigns this year.

SLF is currently led by Steven Law, a longtime GOP operative with close relationships with donors and McConnell.

“We had a great result on election night because of our strategy, Senator Daines’ leadership of the NRSC and President Trump’s decisive victory,” SLF spokesperson Torunn Sinclair said in a statement. “Our sole focus was winning a Senate Majority, and we’ll leave the anonymous rumor-mongering to others.”

Any decision on the SLF president for the 2026 cycle is weeks away, according to a person familiar with the hiring process.

A second person, a Trump world political adviser, echoed the concerns about the names circulating to head both groups, as well as support for Trump’s team launching its own rival super PAC.

“You’d think a committee that just lost four races in states Trump won and only has a couple real offensive opportunities in ‘26, also in states Trump won, would be interested in political guidance and leadership that is in tune with President Trump’s new Republican coalition in order to protect rather than potentially lose its new majority,” the Trump political adviser told POLITICO.

The team that ran the NRSC during the 2024 election year is being replaced by a new one, led by Scott and the advisers he decides to bring on.

The Trump world political adviser said Trump’s team is “not likely to leave [Republican] anti-Trump candidates uncontested,” and that “there’s no chance their Senate candidates can be successful without Trump voters showing up in the midterms.”

The hiring moves would mark a stark departure from the 2024 NRSC operation led by Sen. Steve Daines, who developed a close relationship with Trump and urged the president to back his preferred picks in key races. Trump’s endorsement helped the NRSC secure its favored nominees in Montana and West Virginia.

Daines served as a linchpin between Trump and McConnell, two men who famously did not get along.

Nathan Brand, a spokesperson for Scott, declined to confirm or deny that DeMaura is in line to lead the committee, but said the new NRSC chair has spoken with Trump about his plans. NOTUS first reported that DeMaura was being brought on to run the NRSC. DeMaura did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Senator Scott and President Trump have discussed hiring decisions at the NRSC, and they look forward to the incoming leadership at the committee,” Brand said. “President Trump has committed to doing whatever it takes to not only protect the majority but to grow it.”

Brand did not elaborate on Scott’s conversation with Trump or when it took place. A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeMaura previously ran Pence’s 143-day presidential campaign, a post which he occupied with a low profile, rarely speaking to reporters or appearing with Pence on the trail.

DeMaura’s expertise came from advising Carly Fiorina’s super PAC, during her 2016 presidential campaign.

One ally of DeMaura said that beyond his running Pence’s campaign, there is little in the public record documenting any opposition to Trump.

Adam Geller, a pollster in 2016 for Trump’s campaign as well as for a pro-Trump super PAC, said DeMaura is not “Never Trump” but “a serious operative and consultant who will be about protecting and growing President Trump’s Senate majority.”

But his supporters have work to do to win over skeptics.