Tag: Sen. McConnell

Shadow of Merrick Garland Hangs Over the Next Supreme Court Fight

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The fight over the confirmation of Judge Garland in 2016 set the tone for an even more brutal battle over who should succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

WASHINGTON — On a Saturday evening in February 2016, just hours after Justice Antonin Scalia died during a hunting trip, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, interrupted a Caribbean vacation to draw a line in the sand.

“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice,” he said. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

At that very moment, Mr. McConnell changed the course of the court and every future confirmation battle to come. By the time President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick B. Garland — a mild-mannered jurist with impeccable credentials, a moderate record and fans across the ideological spectrum — the Washington apparatus that gears up around Supreme Court nominations no longer felt quite the same. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans face tough decision on replacing Ginsburg

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the Senate would vote to confirm a Trump nominee to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a statement released an hour after her death, but it’s unclear whether he can convince a majority of his colleagues to do so.

While several GOP senators on Friday evening were saying that a vote should go forward, some were notably silent on the issue.

McConnell can only afford three defections on what would be one of the most controversial Senate votes in history. Continue reading.

Trump, McConnell to move fast to replace Ginsburg

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President Trump will move within days to nominate his third Supreme Court justice in just three-plus short years — and shape the court for literally decades to come, top Republican sources tell Axios. 

Driving the news: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are ready to move to confirm Trump’s nominee before Election Day, just 46 days away, setting up one of the most consequential periods of our lifetimes, the sources say.

What they’re saying: “In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year,” McConnell said in a statement. Continue reading.

Senate to vote on scaled-down coronavirus relief package

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that he will force a vote on a GOP coronavirus relief package after weeks of closed-door talks between Republican senators and the White House. 

“Today, the Senate Republican majority is introducing a new targeted proposal, focused on some of the very most urgent healthcare, education, and economic issues. … I will be moving immediately today to set up a floor vote as soon as this week,” McConnell said in a statement.

The Republican bill is expected to include a federal unemployment benefit, another round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding, and more money for coronavirus testing and schools, as well as liability protections from lawsuits related to the virus. McConnell didn’t release a price tag for the forthcoming bill, but it is expected to be at least $500 billion — half of the $1 trillion package Republicans previously unveiled in late July.  Continue reading.

Anger grows at GOP over economic pain: ‘I blame Mitch McConnell the most’

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With jobless Americans growing increasingly desperate and furious at congressional Republicans for skipping town for summer recess without approving Covid-19 relief, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday ripped the Trump White House for “abandoning” tens of millions of workers and children after her brief conversation with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows yielded zero progress.

“This conversation made clear that the White House continues to disregard the needs of the American people as the coronavirus crisis devastates lives and livelihoods,” the California Democrat said in a statement after speaking with Meadows, an ultra-conservative former congressman, by phone for less than half an hour Thursday afternoon.

The call represented the latest failed attempt to jumpstart relief negotiations that collapsed earlier this month after White House negotiators refused to budge from their trillion-dollar price ceiling and opposition to the $600-per-week federal unemployment supplement, which officially expired on July 31. Continue reading.

McConnell’s mask message doesn’t match White House scene

Senate majority leader wants social distancing until a vaccine arrives

If you looked at the South Lawn of the White House Thursday night, you might have thought that the coronavirus pandemic was over.

A crowd estimated at up to 1,500 gathered for President Donald Trump’s speech accepting the Republican nomination for another term — most without masks and with no social distancing.

There were a number of GOP House members and senators in attendance and some, like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, were spotted wearing masks. Continue reading.

The Postal Service scandal doesn’t just belong to Donald Trump. Here’s how Mitch McConnell played a big role

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Once upon a time, most Americans would have been hard-pressed to name the postmaster general. That fabled time was any time before May of this year, when Donald Trump replaced Postmaster General Megan Brennan with Louis DeJoy. And yes, I had to look up Megan Brennan.

What position of power did Brennan occupy before taking over the Postal Service under Barack Obama? None. Brennan started as a mail carrier at the Postal Service in 1986, delivering letters to neighborhoods in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She worked her way through the ranks at the USPS. For more than a decade, she headed up distribution and transportation in the Northeast before taking over as postmaster in her 27th year with the Postal Service.

Compare that Louis DeJoy. His postal-related career was almost as long as Brennan’s. It’s just that DeJoy spent that career practicing what he’s doing now: Tearing the post office down. And DeJoy doesn’t just owe his new role to Donald Trump—he’s hugely in debt to Mitch McConnell. Continue reading.

McConnell’s refusal to help states could cause US economy to ‘contract by 3%’ — and result in over 4 million job losses: report

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During the coronavirus crisis, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has stressed that he has no interest in “bailing out” blue states that have been suffering budgetary problems because of the coronavirus pandemic. But Democrat-dominated states are hardly the only ones suffering: according to analysis from Moody’s Analytics, the U.S. economy could contract by 3% if Congress does not give states the help that they need — and Moody’s told the Wall Street Journal that more than 4 million jobs could be lost.

In July, Senate Republicans introduced a coronavirus relief package, but it did not include any aid for states or cities. However, negotiators in the Trump Administration have since said they are willing to offer states $150 billion in coronavirus relief — which is how much was included for state and local governments in the CARES Act when Congress passed it in March. Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, however, have said that states need a lot more help and called for $915 billion in relief when they passed a bill on May 15. But Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin described the Democratic recommendation as “an absurd number,” and McConnell made it clear that the Democratic bill passed on May 15 was dead on arrival.

McConnell has dismissed aid to states as a “blue state bailout,” and on August 10, President Donald Trump tweeted that House Democrats “only wanted BAILOUT MONEY for Democrat run states and cities that are failing badly.” But in fact, red states are also suffering budgetary woes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading.

McConnell in a pickle after GOP senator blasts Trump’s executive orders as ‘unconstitutional slop’

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump on Saturday signed four executive orders that may provide economic relief for some Americans as Congress remains at an impasse.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) backed Trump’s moves, despite their dubious legal grounding.

“Struggling Americans need action now. Since Democrats have sabotaged backroom talks with absurd demands that would not help working people, I support President Trump exploring his options to get unemployment benefits and other relief to the people who need them the most,” McConnell said in a statement. Continue reading.

McConnell goes hands-off on coronavirus relief bill

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been careful to maintain his distance from the negotiations between White House officials and Democratic leaders on coronavirus relief legislation.

McConnell’s decision not to participate directly in talks between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Democratic leaders has struck some colleagues as odd.

Senate Republicans say McConnell has proceeded cautiously because any deal that emerges is likely to divide the Senate GOP conference. They note the GOP leader has made it a practice in recent years to avoid taking up issues that divide Republicans if possible. Continue reading.