Rom Reddy Seeks to Change S.C. Senate Rules

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by WILL FOLKS

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Heading into this year, South Carolina businessman Rom Reddy was the leader of an aggressive grassroots movement poised to fundamentally reshape the all-powerful legislative branch of government in the Palmetto State.

Reddy and his allies were eyeing the 2026 election cycle as an opportunity to replace status quo politicians with “Palmetto Revolutionaries.” Their goal? Turning the S.C. General Assembly – which effectively runs all three branches of government in South Carolina – from a costly, status quo favor factory into a citizen-driven, constitutionally limited, outcome-based meritocracy.

Reformers were ebullient…

At long last, they thought, someone had finally come along who intuitively understood what it took to overturn decades of corruption, excess and inefficiency.

Then, last week, Reddy inexplicably decided to turn his muscular reform movement into a vanity campaign for governor of South Carolina, an office that wields about as much power as a cuckold monarch. Reddy claimed he first contemplated this switcheroo last month, although the timing and logistics of his decision are being scrutinized.

In one fell swoop, though, the would-be kingmaker became a wannabe queen… meaning his views on the inner workings of the legislative process became about as relevant as those of the current lame duck governor. And all the governors who preceded him.

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Nonetheless, Reddy held forth this week on his plans to reshape the legislature – something FITSNews has been writing about for many years. Specifically, he has come to the realization that the rules of the legislative bodies (particularly the rules of the S.C. Senate) conspire to thwart the passage of pro-liberty, pro-free market, pro-taxpayer reforms.

Reddy wants the Senate to change its rules regarding the selection of its chairmen – and to impose term limits on those positions as well as the position of majority leader, which is currently held by embattled, results-challenged senator Shane Massey.

“When I am elected governor, I will use my influence to push the S.C. Senate to change chairmanship rules when they return for the 2027 session,” Reddy wrote on X. “Committees should elect their own chairmen.”

Reddy also wants chairmen to serve just two years, although he claimed to be “amenable” to them serving four years to align with their elected terms.

The top target of Reddy’s recent rules push is S.C. Senate judiciary chairman Luke Rankin, who is holding up passage of a judicial reform bill championed by Reddy’s erstwhile DOGE SC movement (legislation which cleared the S.C. House of Representatives over a month ago).

According to Reddy, Rankin heads up this committee “not because he was chosen as the best leader, but because he is the most senior member of the Republican Party when everyone knows that this one time Democrat is one of the most liberal members of the entire General Assembly.”

“Because of this appointment Rankin routinely exercises his power to block legislation that the people of South Carolina overwhelmingly support,” Reddy continued.

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That’s true… in fact, we’ve been exposing this problem for years and calling on senators to fix it.

FITSNews reported on some of these very issues during the 2023-2024 legislative session – including Rankin stalling for months on the issue of judicial selection reform.

To their credit, senators actually responded and took steps to rein Rankin in. Fifteen months ago, after our reporting, they passed the “Rankin Rule” – a measure which provided a mechanism for the removal of committee chairman by a simple majority vote of the chamber. Now, if Massey and Senate president Thomas Alexander were to decide to oust Rankin as chairman (or oust any other chairman), they would need to muster only a simple majority of 24 total votes to oust him. 

That rule was a good start, but Reddy is correct in his view that senators should be allowed to choose their own committee chairmen.

“When I am elected governor, I will use the full weight of my office and my influence to ensure that this kind of obstruction ends,” he wrote.

Therein lies the problem, though… the office he seeks has no weight. And its occupant holds no influence.

When Reddy was busy amassing an armada of ‘Revolutionaries’ for legislative office – candidates backed by his ample resources and the grassroots movement he was erecting – obstructionist lawmakers were legitimately fearful for their positions. However, the moment Reddy’s gubernatorial calculus took hold (assuming you believe him regarding the timing), the threat evaporated.

The fear vanished.

Now, Reddy is just another in a long line of aspiring politicians raging Quixotic against the machine… “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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