Tag: Sen. McConnell

Watch: McConnell drowned out by ‘Moscow Mitch’ chant at Kentucky public speaking appearance

AlterNet logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) continued to be dogged by the nickname “Moscow Mitch” at a speaking appearance in Kentucky on Saturday, as protestors chanted the name and overwhelmed him.

In a video posted to Twitter, the embattled Republican can be heard attempting to address the crowd loudly chants “Moscow Mitch” in reference to his decision to shut down two Senate bills aimed at slowing down Russian meddling in U.S. elections.

View the complete August 4 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Grave warnings as Mitch McConnell accelerates right-wing takeover of US courts

AlterNet logoThe Republican-controlled Senate confirmed 13 of President Donald Trump’s lifetime judicial nominees this week, a major victory in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s years-long effort to reshape the nation’s courts and drag them further to the right for decades to come.

The breakneck speed with which McConnell has ushered young—and often unqualified—right-wing judges through the Senate confirmation process “should send shockwaves across the nation,” the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights tweeted Wednesday.

But the rapid confirmation of Trump’s judicial picks this week has largely flown under the radar as America’s cable networks and newspapers have been dominated by coverage of the 2020 Democratic presidential debates.

View the compete August 1 article by Jake Johnson from Common Dreams on the AlterNet website here.

Why is Mitch McConnell blocking election security bills? Good question.

Washington Post logoAs President Trump’s own FBI director warns that Russians are planning to try to undermine American democracy in the next presidential election, Republican lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) are blocking bills aimed at blocking foreign hackers from states’ voting systems.

Why? Republicans have policy objections to the legislation, but it seems clear that politics is at the forefront of McConnell’s decision-making. Specifically, the politics of pleasing Trump.

Trump is so sensitive to findings that Russians tried to help him win in 2016 that a Cabinet secretary was warned against briefing him on it. He’s repeatedly sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence community about whether Russians interfered. He’s said he might accept foreign help in his 2020 reelection. And last month, he made light of it all when he mock-scolded Putin in front of cameras. “Don’t meddle in the election,” he said, waving a finger and wearing a smile.

View the complete July 30 article by Amber Phillips on The Washington Post website here.

Trump says Washington Post should apologize to McConnell over ‘Russian asset’ column

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Tuesday said The Washington Post should apologize to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after it published an opinion piece titled “Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset” that criticized the senator’s opposition to election security legislation.

“I think The Washington Post is a Russian asset by comparison,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Virginia.

“Mitch McConnell loves our country. He’s done a great job,” Trump added, noting that he did not read the piece. “If they actually said that, that Mitch McConnell is an asset of Russia, they ought to be ashamed of themselves, and they ought to apologize.”

View the complete July 30 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

McConnell bristles at ‘hyperventilating hacks’ criticizing his blocking of election security legislation

Senate majority leader calls critiques ‘modern-day McCarthyism’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did something Monday he rarely does — he got riled up and responded directly to criticism as he defended his decision to block election security bills last week that Democrats attempted to bring to the floor by unanimous consent.

He took particular aim at a recent Washington Post opinion item by Dana Milbank titled “Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset,” calling it a “smear.”

Criticism of McConnell’s handling of election security legislation on the left crescendoed after the Senate left town last week. On MSNBC, host and former GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough repeatedly referred to the GOP leader as “Moscow Mitch.”

View the complete July 29 article by Katherine TUlly-McManus on The Roll Call website here.

Here’s why the #MoscowMitch nickname is so devastating for Mitch McConnell

AlterNet logoThe “Moscow Mitch” moniker bestowed on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could stick, the panel on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” explained on Friday.

Guest host John Heilemann played a clip of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough — who was once a Republican congressman — going off on the GOP Senate leader.

“He is aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attempts to subvert American democracy — according to the Republican FBI, CIA, DNI, Intel committee — all Republicans are all saying Russian is subverting American democracy and Moscow Mitch won’t even let the Senate take a vote on it!” Scarborough said. “That is un-American.”

View the complete July 26 article by Bob Brigham from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

McConnell under fire for burying election bills in ‘legislative graveyard’

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is under fire from Democrats for repeatedly blocking election security legislation in recent days.

The simmering anger among Senate Democrats reached a boiling point this week when McConnell blocked two attempts to pass election bills shortly after former special counsel Robert Mueller warned that foreign governments will interfere in the 2020 elections.

“We are not going to let Leader McConnell put the bills passed by the House into his legislative graveyard without a fight. You’re going to hear from us on this issue over and over again,” Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor.

View the complete July 27 article by Jordain Carney and Maggie Miller on The Hill website here.

McConnell blocks two election security bills

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked two election security measures on Thursday, arguing Democrats are trying to give themselves a “political benefit.”

The move comes a day after former special counsel Robert Mueller warned about election meddling in 2020, saying Russia was laying the groundwork to interfere in the 2020 election “as we sit here.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had tried to get consent Thursday to pass a House bill that requires the use of paper ballots and includes funding for the Election Assistance Commission. It passed the House 225-184 with one Republican voting for it.

View the complete July 25 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

New study finds states need more funding to protect elections ⁠— funding McConnell won’t allow

AlterNet logoA report released last week from the Brennan Center for Justice, the R Street Institute, the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security, and the Alliance for Securing Democracy sounds an alarm about the urgent need for federal funding to secure state elections systems ahead of the 2020 election.

Choosing Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania as key states representing different regions, with varied population sizes to extrapolate from, the authors find that federal intervention is critical. “Elections are the pillar of American democracy, and, as we saw in 2016 and 2018, foreign governments will continue to target them,” the authors write. “States cannot counter these adversaries alone, nor should they have to. But at a time when free and fair elections are increasingly under attack, they can, with additional federal funding, safeguard them.” They say that while they “have limited their review to a sampling of six states, it is clear that the other 44 states and the District of Columbia have similar unfunded needs.” Continue reading “New study finds states need more funding to protect elections ⁠— funding McConnell won’t allow”