Tag: Mitch McConnell

McConnell blocks resolution to release full Mueller report

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blocked a non-binding resolution to make special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report public.

The big picture: The resolution was passed unanimously in the House, and President Trump himself said earlier Monday that it “wouldn’t bother [him] at all” if the full report was released. McConnell cited national security concerns for his decision to block the resolution, and he argued that Attorney General Bill Barr should have time to decide what’s made public. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who put forth the resolution, said that it does not specify a time frame.

View the March 25 post by Zachary Basu on the Axios website here.

McConnell, Graham leave room for Barr to withhold parts of Mueller report

Other congressional leaders, Trump call on attorney general to release full report to public

While Democratic lawmakers and many of their Republican colleagues called on Attorney General William P. Barr to publicly release the full Mueller report, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham left room for Barr to keep parts of it under wraps at the Justice Department.

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III delivered the final report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and possible collusion between Russia and the Donald Trump campaign to Barr on Friday.

“The Attorney General has said he intends to provide as much information as possible. As I have said previously, I sincerely hope he will do so as soon as he can, and with as much openness and transparency as possible,” McConnell said in a statement.

View the complete March 22 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.

Senate’s sluggish start reflects the Republicans’ narrow policy agenda

Mitch McConnell, R-KY., 2018. Credit: J. Scott Applewhite, AP

The Senate is well-known for its deliberative ways, but the first three months of this new Congress are off to a historically sluggish start.

When senators return Monday night for a vote on a judicial nominee, it will be just their 50th roll call of the year, and with only a couple of other votes likely for the week, the Senate will hit the three-month mark of 2019 about 50 percent behind the pace that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set in early 2017 after President Trump took office.

The slow start is indicative of a broader problem for Trump, McConnell and Republicans, as they head into the 2020 election season with a policy agenda that is fairly timid and has so far been mostly invisible in the GOP-controlled Senate.

View the complete March 20 article by Paul Kane on The Washington Post website here.

Senate GOP poised to go ‘nuclear’ on Trump picks

Senate Republicans are set to hit the gas on confirming hundreds of President Trump’s nominees by muscling through a rules change that would dramatically cut down on the amount of time required to confirm district court and executive nominations.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who supports the change, hasn’t tipped his hand on when the proposal will come to the Senate floor. But members of his leadership team say it will be taken up after lawmakers return to Washington next week.

“I think we have 51 Republicans who would rather do it with 60 [votes], most of us,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of leadership who helped spearhead the proposal along with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “We cannot continue to let this current situation be the way we do business.”

View the complete March 20 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

McConnell works to freeze support for Dem campaign finance effort

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is pulling out all the stops to make sure not a single Republican senator backs the campaign finance and ethics reform bill that House Democrats are set to pass on Friday.

McConnell, a longtime opponent of campaign finance reform who battled the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) over the issue, made clear in December that the House proposal would never see floor time in the Senate.

He’s continued to pummel the legislation, sending a stern warning to any GOP colleague who may be thinking about supporting it.

View the complete March 8 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Senate confirms controversial Trump court pick who backed ObamaCare lawsuit

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed a controversial federal circuit court pick who backed a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act.

Senators voted 52-47 on Chad Readler’s 6th Circuit nomination, with GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) siding with Democrats to oppose him.

Readler, who previously worked as an assistant attorney general for the Civil Division at the Department of Justice, ran into controversy over a brief he filed last year supporting a lawsuit filed by Texas and other states seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act.

View the complete March 6 article by Jordaine Carney on The Hill website here.

McConnell eyes Trump, Paul and reelection when it comes to emergency fight

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) needs the support of President Trump and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to win reelection next year, meaning he must rely on two men at opposite sides of the debate over the use of an emergency declaration to build a wall on the southern border. 

The cautious GOP leader, who routinely suffers from poor approval ratings in his home state, never takes political outcomes for granted and always tries to minimize uncertainty.

That means he can’t afford public fights with Trump or Paul, who are both more popular with the GOP base.

View the complete March 5 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Senate confirms Wheeler to lead EPA

The Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Andrew Wheeler as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a 52-47 mostly party-line vote.

Every Democrat voted against Wheeler, while Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) was the only Republican to vote against him.

Collins in a statement Wednesday said she would not vote for Wheeler, a former energy lobbyist, because of his track record backing policies that weaken rules protecting air pollution and lowering car emissions.

View the complete February 28 article by Miranda Green on The Hill website here.

GOP leader unsure on legality of Trump’s emergency declaration

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he has yet to determine whether President Trump’s emergency declaration to build border barriers is legal.

Asked for his legal opinion after meeting with a Department of Justice lawyer at a Tuesday luncheon of the GOP conference, McConnell said, “I haven’t reached a total conclusion.”

McConnell said while he graduated from law school, he’s not an expert on constitutional questions of separations of power.

View the complete February 26 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Border rebuke looms for Trump

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) isn’t going to use political capital to fight a Democratic-sponsored resolution disapproving of President Trump’s emergency declaration for the U.S.-Mexico border.

Instead, the GOP leader will bide his time and pick his battles carefully, avoiding a confrontation with fellow Republican senators who think Trump’s use of the emergency declaration to build border barriers is a policy mistake that sets a bad precedent.

At the same time, McConnell isn’t sitting on the sidelines for what’s shaping up as one of the biggest fights of the 116th Congress. He has briefed Trump on what to expect when the Senate takes up the disapproval resolution and has warned the president that he is likely to lose the simple-majority vote in the upper chamber, according to a source familiar with McConnell’s advice. 

View the complete February 26 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.