Tag: Mitch McConnell

Senate approves border bill that prevents shutdown

The Senate approved legislation Thursday that would prevent a new government shutdown and provide money for President Trump‘s U.S.-Mexico border wall moments after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that Trump would also sign an emergency declaration over the southern border.

The 83-16 vote in the Senate came after several hours of drama, with increasing chatter about whether Trump would actually sign the deal, which funds a quarter of the government that was poised to run out of funding starting on Saturday.

The bill now heads to the House, which is expected to vote on it later Thursday evening and send it to Trump’s desk for his signature.

View the complete February 14 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

GOP leader presses Trump to agree to border deal

Congress is moving forward with a border security deal that would prevent a new shutdown at the end of the week after President Trump expressed

unhappiness but stopped short of saying he would kill it.

Trump, who is getting far less in the $1.375 billion deal for border barriers than he had demanded, said he was “extremely unhappy” with what Democrats had conceded in the negotiations over his border wall.

“It’s sad. They’re doing the country no favors,” Trump said at a meeting with his Cabinet.

View the complete February 12 article by Alexander Bolton and Scott Wong on The Hill website here.

McConnell to set up vote on Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’

The Senate will hold a vote on the Green New Deal, an environmental and energy plan touted by progressives, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday.

McConnell told reporters after a meeting of the Senate Republican caucus that he has “great interest” in the plan, which would spell an end for coal, a key economic driver in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, while promising new jobs for out-of-work miners and other workers.

“We’ll give everybody an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal,” McConnell said.

View the complete February 12 article by Jordain Carney, Timothy Cama and Miranda Green on The Hill website here.

Photo of Mitch McConnell in Front of a Confederate Flag Resurfaces Amid Northam Yearbook Controversy

In the midst of the ongoing controversy over a racist photograph on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page, a photograph of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) posing in front of a Confederate flag is making the rounds on social media.

The photograph of McConnell, which apparently shows the senator posing in front of a large Confederate flag, had previously surfaced in 2015, according to Snopes. The photo was allegedly taken at a Sons of Confederate Veterans event in the early ’90s.

View the complete February 3 article by Alejandro de la Garza on The Time Magazine website here.

McConnell says bill that would make Election Day a federal holiday is a ‘power grab’ by Democrats

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Jan. 30 that the bill that would make Election Day a federal holiday would also “victimize” taxpayers. (C-Span)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that a Democratic bill that would make Election Day a federal holiday is a “power grab,” sparking a fierce backlash online.

McConnell was speaking about H.R. 1, legislation that Democrats have made a centerpiece of their agenda since retaking the House earlier this month.

In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell (R-Ky.) said Democrats “want taxpayers on the hook for generous new benefits for federal bureaucrats and government employees,” including making Election Day a “new paid holiday for government workers.”

View the complete January 30 article by Felecia Sonmez on The Washington Post website here.

WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘We’re Being Held Hostage’

The Trump Shutdown is in its 33rd day, and hundreds of thousands of workers still don’t know when their next paycheck will come. Trump’s temper tantrum has forced workers to take on second jobs just to pay their bills, and wait in long lines at food banks just to feed their children. The Trump Shutdown has to end.

Here are real stories of Americans hurt by the Trump Shutdown:

“We’re being held hostage, but we are being hurt, tremendously hurt, through no fault of our own. That hurts. It really hurts.” – Federal worker

Continue reading “WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘We’re Being Held Hostage’”

Republicans Have No Good Reason To Continue The Trump Shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would finally hold votes tomorrow on two measures: Trump’s “compromise” proposal, and a House-passed package that includes a continuing resolution.

One measure is a bipartisan, common sense plan to reopen the government; the other is just another political stunt. Senate Republicans have already supported the House-passed measure, so they have no excuse not to join Democrats in ending the Trump Shutdown.

The Senate will have a chance to vote on a clean proposal to reopen the government tomorrow.

CNN: “The other vote will be on House-passed legislation backed by Democrats to reopen the government without providing new funding for the wall.” Continue reading “Republicans Have No Good Reason To Continue The Trump Shutdown”

GOP seeks to change narrative in shutdown fight

President Trump and congressional Republicans are trying to change the narrative on Democrats as the partial shutdown drags into its fifth week.

Republicans, who have seen poll after poll showing that a majority of respondents blame Trump for the shutdown, are eager to corner Democrats by forcing a vote on the White House proposal to reopen the government and provide Trump with $5.7 billion in wall funding.

Whether the gambit works is anyone’s guess.

View the complete January 22 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

Senate to vote on dueling government funding bills

Senate leadership on Tuesday struck an agreement to vote on dueling proposals to reopen the federal government.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set up two votes for Thursday afternoon, both of which will require 60 votes to advance.

The first vote will be on President Trump‘s proposal to reopen the government, provide $5.7 billion in funding for the border wall and extend legal protections to some immigrants for three years. If that fails, the Senate would then vote on a three-week continuing resolution (CR) to fund a quarter of the government through Feb. 8.

View the complete January 22 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill article here.

Senate GOP unveils omnibus bill to fund wall, reopen government

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence arrive to the Capitol to attend the Senate Republican policy luncheons on January 9, 2019. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call)

The 1,301-page draft bill includes parts outlined by Trump in his Saturday speech

Senate Republicans have released a $354.5 billion fiscal 2019 spending package that includes $5.7 billion for border wall construction as well as temporary relief for enrollees in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and immigrants receiving Temporary Protected Status.

The 1,301-page draft bill was released Monday night, and it includes parts outlined by President Donald Trump in his Saturday speech. It is expected to receive a vote in the Senate this week.

Democrats have already rejected the proposal, on grounds that the president should first sign stopgap funding to reopen the nine Cabinet departments that have been closed for the past month. They also oppose the three-year extensions of legal status for the roughly 1 million DACA and TPS recipients, which they argue ought to be permanent.

View the complete January 22 article by Jennifer Shutt on The Roll Call website here.