Tag: Mitch McConnell

Senate Panel Tees Up Mueller Protection Bill Despite Headwinds

The following article by Todd Ruger was posted on the Roll Call website April 19, 2018:

McConnell indicates measure won’t reach Senate floor

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee say they want to act on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III — even if Majority Leader Mitch McConnell essentially killed it by saying it won’t make it to the floor.

They then spoke to the natural follow-up question: Why bother?

“I answered this question I’ll bet about 10 times,” Chairman Charles E. Grassley told the committee Thursday. “The press is always trying to put us between me and the president, or me and the majority leader. I don’t care to be put in the middle of anything. Continue reading “Senate Panel Tees Up Mueller Protection Bill Despite Headwinds”

McConnell Makes It Clear That Republicans Won’t Do Anything to Protect Mueller from Trump

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website April 17, 2018:

“I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed calls on Tuesday for legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, saying that he doesn’t think President Donald Trump will fire the lead investigator in charge of the Russia investigation.

“I don’t think he should fire Mueller, and I don’t think he’s going to, so this is a piece of legislation that is not necessary, in my judgment,” Mcconnell said on Fox News.

A growing number of Republican lawmakers have endorsed legislation to protect Mueller in recent days following the president’s fury over the federal raid on his attorney Michael Cohen. Neil Cavuto, the Fox News host who interviewed McConnell, pointed this fact out to the majority leader.

“But I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor,” McConnell said. “That’s my responsibility as the majority leader. And we will not be having this on the floor of the Senate.”

McConnell said he would be “shocked” if Trump does fire Mueller.

Watch the clip below:

Continue reading “McConnell Makes It Clear That Republicans Won’t Do Anything to Protect Mueller from Trump”

McConnell Makes It Clear That Republicans Won’t Do Anything to Protect Mueller from Trump

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website April 17, 2018:

“I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed calls on Tuesday for legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, saying that he doesn’t think President Donald Trump will fire the lead investigator in charge of the Russia investigation.

“I don’t think he should fire Mueller, and I don’t think he’s going to, so this is a piece of legislation that is not necessary, in my judgment,” Mcconnell said on Fox News.

A growing number of Republican lawmakers have endorsed legislation to protect Mueller in recent days following the president’s fury over the federal raid on his attorney Michael Cohen. Neil Cavuto, the Fox News host who interviewed McConnell, pointed this fact out to the majority leader.

“But I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor,” McConnell said. “That’s my responsibility as the majority leader. And we will not be having this on the floor of the Senate.”

McConnell said he would be “shocked” if Trump does fire Mueller.

Former Obama chief of staff said top Senate Republican ‘watered down’ pre-election Russia warning

The following article by Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website March 4, 2018:

Credit: AP Photo / Ron Sachs

A former chief of staff to President Barack Obama said Sunday that the Senate’s top Republican insisted that a bipartisan appeal for states to step up election security in the face of Russian aggression be “dramatically watered down” before it was issued in advance of the 2016 election.

Denis McDonough said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was single-handedly responsible for downgrading the language in a letter “asking the states to work with us” to better secure election systems in light of intelligence indicating Russia was attempting to interfere in the election. McDonough complained that members of Congress have shown a “stunning lack of urgency about this question,” and he put the blame mostly on Republican leaders in Congress. Continue reading “Former Obama chief of staff said top Senate Republican ‘watered down’ pre-election Russia warning”

This is the week that the GOP truly became the party of Trump

The following article by Dan Balz was posted on the Washington Post website February 3, 2018:

President Trump appears to have won over the Republican establishment, as shown in its blessing of the release of a House Intelligence Committee memo alleging wrongdoing by the FBI and the Justice Dpt. Credit: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

This was the week when the Republican Party finally went all in with President Trump. What once seemed unlikely is now reality. The Republican establishment — there are a few dissenting voices, of course — has succumbed to the power of the presidency, and this president in particular.

This coming together has taken place gradually. The path has been rocky at times. But the embrace of the president by elected Republicans could not have been warmer or fuller than shown in the past week. Continue reading “This is the week that the GOP truly became the party of Trump”

Trump’s enablers are misreading the stars

The following commentary by Joe Scarborough was posted on the Washington Post website February 1, 2018:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), left, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves,” Cassius counseled his friend and fellow republican Marcus Brutus. In Shakespeare’s telling of the tragedy of Julius Caesar, the triumphant general returns to Rome and is feared to be plotting to become an emperor capable of laying waste to the Roman republic. But Brutus takes to heart Cassius’s reminder that loyalties flow first to the republic and not to political friends. He acts on the warning, helps to kill Caesar and then dies a miserable death. Alas, no one lives happily ever after.

This week’s story line out of Washington is less grim but still of great concern. Despite daily reminders that President Trump holds democratic traditions in deep contempt, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and his Republican caucus are allowing themselves to become co-conspirators in the president’s push to compromise U.S. constitutional norms. While no one expects the GOP to take grisly cues from Shakespeare, is it too much to ask that Ryan place grave national security concerns from the Justice Department ahead of his political peonage to Trump? Continue reading “Trump’s enablers are misreading the stars”

Shall we protect Robert Mueller now, Mr. McConnell?

The following commentary by the Editorial Board of the Washington Post website January 26, 2018:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

“I DON’T HEAR much pressure to pass anything,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in November when asked about bills that would protect special counsel Robert S. Mueller III should President Trump try to fire him. “There’s been no indication that the president or the White House are not cooperating with the special counsel,” Mr. McConnell explained.

Now there is an indication, and a pretty strong one. The New York Times reported and The Post quickly confirmed Thursday that the president moved to fire Mr. Mueller in June, shortly after the special counsel’s appointment. Mr. Trump pulled back only after White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn threatened to resign. Continue reading “Shall we protect Robert Mueller now, Mr. McConnell?”

Historic Obstruction or Success in Senate? Yes

The following article by Ed Pesce was posted on the Roll Call website January 9, 2018:

McConnell decries debate time delays, praises success in confirmations

Williams/CQ Roll Call

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used his leadership time on Monday to criticize Democrats for making 2017 “an historic year of partisan obstruction” by using the full 30 hours of debate permitted under the rules on nominations. But McConnell’s complaint, echoed by other senior Republicans and President Donald Trump, comes as those same leaders have been trumpeting their success in confirming a record number of 12 federal circuit court judges to the bench, as well as the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

The Kentucky Republican and his allies say the Democrats are purposely gumming up the works to prevent Trump from staffing the executive and judicial branches. McConnell pointed to his having to file procedural cloture motions to limit debate on the four pending district court nominations that members are considering in the chamber this week.  Continue reading “Historic Obstruction or Success in Senate? Yes”

Why Trump and Republicans are suddenly talking up bipartisanship

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website January 8, 2018:

President Trump spoke about his legislative priorities and answered reporters’ questions at a news conference at Camp David, Md., on Jan. 6. (The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA: Since the day they enacted the biggest overhaul of the tax code in a generation without a single Democratic vote, Republicans have been talking a big game about their supposed desire to work across the aisle.

“We hope that 2018 will be a year of more bipartisan cooperation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters at Camp David on Saturday, dubiously predicting that “a significant number of Democrats” will want to support President Trump’s agenda. Continue reading “Why Trump and Republicans are suddenly talking up bipartisanship”

5 lessons from a Republican year of governing dangerously

The following article by Sarah Bender and Mark Spindel was posted on the Washington Post website December 28, 2017:

Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Republican Congress ended its first year on a partisan high note by overhauling the tax code and undercutting the Affordable Care Act, setting up a trillion increase in the deficit in the process. Before the finale, the 115th Congress was buoyed by a strong economy, yet gridlocked by slim majorities, internal division and an erratic president. Over the course of the year, Republicans narrowed their agenda, abandoned fiscal orthodoxy, bent the rules, and kicked tough problems to next year and beyond.

Here are five takeaways from year one of all-Republican rule: Continue reading “5 lessons from a Republican year of governing dangerously”