Tag: Mitch McConnell

McConnell Gives GOP Senators Permission To Dump Trump

With Donald Trump sinking ever lower in the polls and odds-makers increasingly favoring Democrats to flip the Senate in November, the polls on the first day of August showed Democrats likely to emerge in the fall with complete control of Capitol Hill. It’s enough to have Mitch McConnell sweating about his status as a future minority leader, if not future former senator. With that in mind, CNN reports that McConnell has given Republican Senate candidates permission to distance themselves from Trump, particularly on his mass-murder approach to the coronavirus and Trump’s continued claims that it’s safe for children to return to school.

The problem for Republicans looking to separate themselves from Trump is … they can’t. By now, every single candidate up for election in House or Senate who carries a GOP label has signed on to Trump’s most outrageous claims repeatedly. McConnell may have authorized them to show “flexibility” and “independence,” but neither of those qualities have on display in the least over the last three years. Instead, even Republicans who went into the Trump era after disparaging Trump the candidate have been utterly subservient to his every random whim. They’ve backed Trump on his destruction of vital alliances, backed Trump in his racism and xenophobia, backed Trump on an endless array of unsupported conspiracy theories. And in January, they underscored their support for Trump by signing the ultimate loyalty pledge when Republicans in both House and Senate refused to remove Trump from office despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt. Continue reading.

The Senate just pushed the country off a cliff — and then headed for the hills

AlterNet logoDespite the pandemic-induced recession, millions of jobless Americans have been kept afloat by an uncharacteristically generous act of Congress. In addition to their state’s usual unemployment payments — usually a fraction of their previous wages — Americans have been eligible to receive and additional $600 a week, desperately needed support for people who saw their incomes crater.

But Republicans have been outraged that the payments were so generous, so they objected to legislation the Democrats passed in May to extend the program. They proposed a number of different ideas to extend the program on a more limited basis, but all these ideas came at the last minute and the GOP caucus couldn’t agree on a single plan. So on Friday, the program officially expires — meaning unemployed Americans who had been receiving a boost of $2,400 a month from the government will suddenly see those payments slashed to zero.

And now, the Senate has gone home for a long weekend. Continue reading.

Mitch McConnell is turning almost everyone against him with his disastrous relief bill

AlterNet logoA CNBC/Change Research survey of voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin found overwhelming opposition to the Senate Republicans’ coronavirus stimulus approach. Sixty-nine percent want the federal government to give aid to states to help them avoid massive budget cuts. Sixty-two percent want an extension of the federal $600-a-week unemployment insurance enhancement. And 58 percent are opposed to giving legal immunity to corporations from COVID-19 related lawsuits.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell found it impossible to get any consensus within his caucus for a bill. The end product satisfied no one. For example, Senator Rick Scott served two terms as the governor of Florida, so you might expect him to be sympathetic to the concept of aiding states that are now facing huge budget shortfalls. But he’s too much of an ideologue to have any empathy for his successor: “I’m very concerned about the amount of money we’re talking about. What I don’t want to do is bail out the states. That’s wrong.”

Maybe Sen. Scott would be less perturbed if he actually read his party’s bill: Continue reading.

McConnell wants FBI money out of coronavirus bill

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he wants the $1.75 billion in funding for a new FBI headquarters in downtown Washington removed from the GOP’s coronavirus relief package.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McConnell said he hopes that provision and other “non-germane” items will be removed from the legislation before it’s sent to President Trump’s desk.

“I am opposed to non-germane amendments, whether it’s funding for the FBI building or, for example, in the House bill, whether it’s a tax cut for high-income earners in blue states or other non-germane amendments in the House bill like marijuana studies or aid to illegal immigrants,” McConnell told reporters after GOP senators met for lunch with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who are involved in negotiations with congressional Democrats on the COVID-19 package. Continue reading.

Republican leaders release $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus proposal

Axios logoAfter days of intense debate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republican leaders rolled out a roughly $1 trillion proposal for the next round of coronavirus relief funding, which has the White House’s seal of approval.

Why it matters: The HEALS Act (health, economic assistance, liability protection, schools) is viewed as a GOP marker for broader negotiations, since both Democrats and some Republicans have expressed dissatisfaction with key aspects of the bill. It’s expected to change significantly in the coming days.

  • Washington leaders are hopeful they can pass a final bill by mid-August, though that timetable will be extremely difficult given the stark differences in opinion on the substance of the legislation.
  • The price tag is also expected to increase given that Democrats want a $4 trillion package, despite sharp opposition from deficit hawks like Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). GOP leaders have begrudgingly admitted they’ll need to meet Democrats somewhere in the middle. Continue reading.

McConnell says stimulus deal could take ‘a few weeks,’ putting millions with expiring jobless aid in limbo

Washington Post logoThe temporary $600 weekly benefit expires next week, and Republicans are seeking a way to scale it back

With days to go before enhanced jobless benefits expire, the White House and Senate Republicans are struggling to design a way to scale back the program without overwhelming state unemployment agencies and imperiling aid to more than 20 million Americans.

The hang-up has led to an abrupt delay in the introduction of the GOP’s $1 trillion stimulus package. The White House and Democrats have said they want a deal by the end of the month, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested Friday that reaching an agreement could take several weeks, a timeline that could leave many unemployed Americans severely exposed.

“Hopefully we can come together behind some package we can agree on in the next few weeks,” McConnell said at an event in Ashland, Ky. Continue reading.

Mnuchin says GOP has ‘fundamental’ deal on $1T coronavirus relief package

The Hill logoThe White House and Senate Republicans on Thursday reached a “fundamental agreement” on a coronavirus package, according to a top negotiator.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — said staff were now trying to finalize text of the agreement, which is expected to be released as a group of bills instead of one piece of legislation.

“We just had a very productive discussion with the leader. We do have a fundamental agreement between the White House and the Republicans in the Senate,” Mnuchin told reporters. Continue reading.

McConnell says next COVID-19 relief bill will include stimulus checks

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Republicans want to include a second round of stimulus checks and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding as part of their forthcoming coronavirus proposal.

“Speaking of building on what worked in the CARES Act, we want another round of direct payments, direct payments to help American families keep driving our national comeback,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.

The March $2.2 trillion coronavirus package included a one-time $1,200 payment for Americans who make up to $75,000 per year. The amount of the direct payment was scaled down until it hit an income level of $99,000 per year where it was phased out altogether. Continue reading.

Draft of McConnell’s ‘dangerous’ corporate immunity plan sparks alarm: ‘This is an anti-civil rights proposal’

AlterNet logoConsumer and workers’ rights advocates are warning that new details of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to shield businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits show just how far the Republican leader is willing to go to ensure corporations are not held accountable for endangering public health and safety.

“Congress must reject this dangerous proposal,” the National Employment Law Project said in response to a draft (pdf) of McConnell’s plan obtained by Politico and other outlets on Friday.

The draft, authored by McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.), proposes relieving businesses, schools, churches, and other institutions of legal responsibility for workers, customers, and others who contract Covid-19 except in cases of “gross negligence and intentional misconduct”—a difficult standard to prove in court. Continue reading.

Trump’s push for major infrastructure bill faces GOP opposition

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s election-year push for a $1 trillion infrastructure spending bill to boost the struggling economy faces strong opposition from Senate Republicans.

GOP senators are warning that Trump’s expected proposal is too “rich” and would be a “heavy lift” in Congress, especially considering significant policy differences between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

House Democratic leaders have vowed to approve a surface transportation bill with a price tag around $500 billion over five years by the end of this month, which could put pressure on the GOP-led Senate. The House Transportation Committee is scheduled to start marking up that bill Wednesday. Continue reading.