Tag Archives: Mitch McConnell

Politico reports: As Donald Trump heads to Florida this weekend to give a campaign-style rally, Mitch McConnell made one more plea to the Republican president: Try to stay on message. The Senate majority has been trying for months — unsuccessfully — to convince Trump to adapt McConnell’s own disciplined style. The Kentucky Republican says that Trump’s White House is pursuing …

Politico reports: The executive powers of President Donald Trump are not above judicial review, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday, offering gentle pushback that followed assertions from White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller that federal judges overstepped their bounds by blocking one of Trump’s controversial executive orders on immigration. “I mean, under the Constitution, all of our actions …

The Huffington Post reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rose on Tuesday and objected in the midst of a speech Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was giving in opposition to the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to be attorney general. McConnell took particular issue with Warren quoting a letter written by Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, …

CNN reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell left the door open to using the “nuclear option” and eliminate the Senate’s rule requiring 60 votes to confirm Supreme Court justices if Democrats attempt a filibuster. “I haven’t said what will happen at that point. I’m confident we will get 60 votes,” the Kentucky Republican told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday said he doesn’t want to spend federal funds to investigate what President Trump claimed was massive voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election. While McConnell says there is voter fraud, he doesn’t believe it’s as widespread as Trump claims or requires federal intervention. He says that cleaning up voter …

CNN reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that he expects the cost of building a wall along the Mexican border to be between $12 billion to $15 billion. But neither McConnell nor House Speaker Paul Ryan said precisely how Congress would pay for the wall, or whether they expect Mexico to repay the cost. Ryan said Thursday he …

Vox reports: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has a simple request for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees must meet the same traditional standards that were demanded of President Barack Obama’s nominees eight years ago. In fact, the request is so similar that Schumer sent the exact same letter McConnell sent to Harry Reid, then the Democratic …

Politico reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday rebuffed Democratic calls to slow down rapid confirmation of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, even after a nonpartisan federal watchdog raised “great” concerns about moving ahead with hearings for nominees without their ethics reviews completed. Walter Shaub, the director of the independent Office of Government Ethics, laid out his warning in a …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said no select committee is needed to look into the Russian meddling in the US. presidential election. McConnell said during an interview that aired Monday with Kentucky Educational Television that the issue of Russian hacking is a “serious issue,” according to The Washington Examiner. But it “doesn’t require” a special committee, …

Talking Points Memo reports: Donald Trump has chosen former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to lead the Department of Transportation, multiple sources told Politico Tuesday. Chao also served as deputy secretary of transportation under George H.W. Bush. She is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Chao was the first Asian-American woman to hold a Cabinet-level position. According to …

The Associated Press reports: McConnell is widely popular among Republicans and his election was by acclimation on Wednesday. The 74-year-old is considered a clever tactician who mixes conservative leanings with a willingness to cut bipartisan deals when necessary. McConnell was Senate minority leader for eight years before becoming majority leader when the GOP took control in 2015. He enraged Democrats …

Politico reports: Republicans, on the verge of losing the Senate, are plowing a mammoth $25 million into six races in a last-ditch attempt to stop Donald Trump from dragging the entire GOP down with him. The investment from Senate Leadership Fund, a powerful super PAC with ties to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, comes as Democrats shift resources from Hillary Clinton’s …

The Associated Press reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that GOP prospects for keeping control of the Senate after the November elections are “very dicey,” sounding an alarm amid mounting Republican concerns about presidential nominee Donald Trump, Speaking to a Louisville-area civic group in his home state, McConnell said Senate Republicans were going to be “on defense” in …

Via Politico: There are plenty of plausible reasons why Republicans might eventually fold in the standoff over the Supreme Court: Overwhelming public opinion, a Democratic pressure campaign, and vulnerable GOP senators trying to save their jobs, to name a few. But there’s another even more persuasive reason they won’t: The wrath of the right wing. The activist right has been …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday shot down the idea of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland getting a hearing. McConnell insisted in a floor speech that the vacancy should be filled by the next president. “The next justice could fundamentally alter the direction of the Supreme Court and have a profound impact on our country, …

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wasted no time tonight in responding the avalanche of conservatives calling for the Senate to block President Obama from appointing Antonin Scalia’s successor. Scalia’s passing was surely be a hot topic at tonight’s GOP presidential debate in South Carolina.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tonight issued this statement: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.”

Via Talking Point Memo: The New York Daily News on Tuesday used its front page to condemn Republican senators for signing an open letter to Iran warning that a potential nuclear deal could be null once President Barack Obama is out of office. The tabloid’s front page prominently featured Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), …

A coalition of far-right groups has sent a letter to incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urging him to keep the filibuster rule change made by the Democrats last year. A group of 26 conservative academics, advocates and leaders wrote in a letter that they see “very little upside” to restoring the old rules, which had allowed the minority party …