Tag: Sen. McConnell

McConnell: ‘We’re going to clean the plate’ on judges

With Election Day looming, traditions fall by wayside

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed Friday to continue confirming both U.S. circuit and district court nominees through the lame-duck session and right up to the end of the 116th Congress, which must adjourn Jan. 3. 

“We’re going to run through the tape. We go through the end of the year, and so does the president,” McConnell said Friday on the show of conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “We’re going to fill the 7th Circuit. And I’m hoping we have time to fill the 1st Circuit as well.”

The seat on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opened up after the Senate elevated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in a truncated nomination process that culminated in her confirmation in the Senate on Monday. The other seat, on the 1st Circuit, opened after the death Monday of Juan R. Torruella, 87, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Continue reading.

Senate packs up with coronavirus relief bill on ice until after elections

Mnuchin, Pelosi still talking, but little sign of a breakthrough

Senators prepared to leave town Monday night for their October recess with virtually no prospect of passing new COVID-19 aid legislation before the Nov. 3 elections.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone for 52 minutes on Monday in what has become a near-daily attempt to narrow differences on pandemic relief between Democrats and the Trump administration. But there was no indication of any major progress.

Democrats “continue to eagerly await the Administration’s acceptance of our health language, which includes a national strategic plan on testing and tracing,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted after the call. And Hammill suggested that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has resisted a large-scale aid deal, would need to show a greater willingness to compromise. Continue reading.

GOP clears key hurdle on Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination, setting up Monday confirmation

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Republicans cleared a key hurdle Sunday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination, paving the way for her confirmation on Monday.

Senators voted 51-48 to begin winding down debate on Barrett’s nomination. GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted with Democrats against moving forward.

A final vote to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court is expected to take place by Monday evening, roughly a month after President Trumpannounced his intention to nominate her to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Continue reading.

‘What’s going on?’ Mitch McConnell refuses to explain to voters why he’s bruised and bandaged

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday was photographed with what appear to be disturbing bruises on his face and hands, and with bandages on his hands as well, but he is refusing to share with voters what health issues he is suffering from.

McConnell told CNN there are “no problems.” When asked if he had any health problems the 78-year old said: “Of course not.”

The Kentucky lawmaker “did not respond when asked if he was being treated by a doctor. An aide to McConnell also declined to provide any additional details when asked multiple times about the majority leader’s health.” Continue reading.

McConnell tees up Barrett nomination, setting up rare weekend session

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday teed up Judge Amy Coney Barrett‘s Supreme Court nomination, paving the way for a rare weekend session roughly a week before the November election.

McConnell’s move sets up a vote to end debate on Barrett’s nomination for Sunday, with a final vote to confirm her to the Supreme Court expected by early Monday evening.

The Senate is expected to be in session on both Saturday and Sunday debating Barrett’s nomination, though her confirmation is guaranteed absent an unlikely last-minute surprise. Continue reading.

GOP power shift emerges with Trump, McConnell

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A subtle power shift is emerging on Capitol Hill as Republicans face a possible future that might no longer include President Trump.

The shift has been most apparent in the dynamics surrounding negotiations on a new coronavirus relief package.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sought to avoid a vote on a massive stimulus package that would badly divide the Senate GOP conference right before Election Day, even as Trump urges Republican senators to “go big.” Continue reading.

McConnell Moves to Head Off Stimulus Deal as Pelosi Reports Progress

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The top Senate Republican told colleagues that he had advised the White House against striking a pre-election deal with Democrats to deliver pandemic aid, fearing political repercussions.

WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, privately told Republican senators on Tuesday that he had warned the White House not to strike a pre-election deal with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a new round of stimulus, moving to head off an agreement that President Trump has demanded but most in his party oppose.

Mr. McConnell’s remarks, confirmed by four Republicans familiar with them, threw cold water on Mr. Trump’s increasingly urgent push to enact a new round of pandemic aid before Election Day. They came just as Ms. Pelosi offered an upbeat assessment of her negotiations with Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, telling Democrats that their latest conversation had yielded “common ground as we move closer to an agreement.”

The cost of their emerging compromise on a new round of aid to hard-pressed Americans and businesses has steadily climbed toward $2 trillion, inching closer to Ms. Pelosi’s demands even as it far exceeds what most Senate Republicans have said they can accept. Continue reading.

8 million forced into poverty since McConnell let relief expire: studies

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The authors of two separate poverty studies out of three top universities said Thursday that their findings make the unmistakable case for more federal economic aid for families struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Seven months after Congress passed the CARES Act, which included expanded unemployment benefits and one-time direct payments of $1,200 for many adults and $500 per child, the package’s positive impact on poverty levels have already been reversed, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy and one out of the University of Chicago and Notre Dame.

While the number of people living in poverty fell by about four million after the CARES Act was passed, the Columbia study found that eight million more Americans are now poor than were in May—signaling that the pandemic has plunged more people into poverty than before the crisis. Continue reading.

McConnell shoots down $1.8 trillion coronavirus deal, breaking with Trump

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday shot down the prospect of a coronavirus deal totaling between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion — the goalposts of the current talks between Democrats and the White House.

McConnell’s comments, made to reporters in Kentucky, underscore the divisions between President Trump and Senate Republicans on a fifth coronavirus package, with the GOP leader preparing to force a vote on a $500 billion bill next week.

“I don’t think so. That’s where the administration is willing to go. My members think half a trillion dollars, highly targeted, is the best way to go,” McConnell said, asked about the prospect of a deal totally between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion. Continue reading.

Amy Coney Barrett served as a ‘handmaid’ in Christian group People of Praise

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While Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has faced questions about how her Catholic faith might influence her jurisprudence, she has not spoken publicly about her involvement in People of Praise, a small Christian group founded in the 1970s and based in South Bend, Ind.

Barrett, a federal appellate judge, has disclosed serving on the board of a network of private Christian schools affiliated with the group. The organization, however, has declined to confirm that she is a member. In recent years, it removed from its website editions of a People of Praise magazine — first those that included her name and photograph and then all archives of the magazine itself.

Barrett has had an active role in the organization, as have her parents, according to documents and interviews that help fill out a picture of her involvement with a group that keeps its teachings and gatherings private. Continue reading.