Mcconnell Says Republicans Will Not Again Aid Democrats In Raising Debt Limit
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to reporters following the Senate Republicans weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 One day after the Senate approved a temporary lift to the U.S. debt ceiling, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden that he would not aid Democrats again in raising the debt limit.
Following weeks of partisan fighting, the Senate approved the short-term fix that will allow the United States to avoid defaulting on its bills in a 50-48 vote on Thursday evening. The House will vote on the measure on Tuesday.
Congress will need to find a longer-term solution in December. But McConnell has said the reprieve would give Democrats enough time to raise the debt ceiling through a procedural move known as reconciliation, which Democrats have rejected as an option for lifting the cap.
In his letter to Biden, McConnell referenced comments on the Senate floor on Thursday by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who said Republicans had played a dangerous and risky partisan game.
I am writing to make it clear that in light of Senator Schumers hysterics and my grave concerns about the ways that another vast, reckless, partisan spending bill would hurt Americans and help China, I will not be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of Democratic mismanagement, McConnell wrote.
Most Prisoners Cant Vote But Theyre Still Counted In Voting Districts
Administration officials also pointed to the Justice Departments announcement that it was doubling its voting rights enforcement staff, as well as the June announcement that the department was suing Georgia over its new voting law.
Biden and Harris also spoke by phone this week to a number of senators about the legislation, the White House said.
Biden spoke with Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California, according to a White House official, while Harris spoke with Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, as well as Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine.
Asked about those calls, Psaki said that they were conversations about the path forward and conversations about the presidents commitment to protecting voting rights, though she did not outline any future plans.
NPR political reporter Alana Wise contributed to this story.
Foreign Policy And National Defense
Some, including neoconservatives, in the Republican Party support unilateralism on issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external support in matters of its national defense. In general, Republican thinking on defense and international relations is heavily influenced by the theories of neorealism and realism, characterizing conflicts between nations as struggles between faceless forces of an international structure as opposed to being the result of the ideas and actions of individual leaders. The realist school’s influence shows in Reagan’s “Evil Empire” stance on the Soviet Union and George W. Bush’s Axis of evil stance.
Some, including paleoconservatives and right-wing populists, call for non-interventionism and an America First foreign policy. This faction gained strength starting in 2016 with the rise of Donald Trump.
Since the , many in the party have supported neoconservative policies with regard to the War on Terror, including the 2001 war in Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The George W. Bush administration took the position that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to unlawful combatants, while other prominent Republicans strongly oppose the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, which they view as torture.
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Mitch Mcconnell Wants Ten Republicans To Help Democrats Raise The Debt Limit
Blaze News
Senate Republicans may be on the verge of helping Democrats raise the debt limit by temporarily changing the rules of the Senate to fast-track the process.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly seeking at least ten Republicans to agree to a strategy that would permit the Democratic majority to raise the debt limit with a simple majority vote. In a deal struck with Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer , Republicans would give Democrats enough votes to change the rules, and then Democrats will pass the debt limit increase without Republican support.
A total of 60 votes are required to change the Senate rules, so at least ten Republicans must agree to McConnell’s strategy to get it done.
This new bill, which has been negotiated by Schumer and McConnell, would allow the debt ceiling to be increased only up until Jan. 15 by a simple majority vote. Manu Raju 1638898429
The measure requires the debt ceiling to be increased by a specific dollar amount . McConnell has insisted on Dems being forced for a specific dollar amount Manu Raju 1638898430
The deal negotiated between McConnell and Schumer would solve two political problems: Raising the debt limit and giving Republicans cover to claim they opposed doing so.
But will te Republicans go along with McConnell’s plan? According to Politico, some of his leading GOP voices in the Senate were receptive to the strategy.
Mitch Mcconnells New Strategy: Vote No Give Democrats The Credit
From the Speaker’s Press Office:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tried out a new message strategy this week: telling the truth. While speaking in Kentucky, McConnell admitted that the extensive COVID recovery funds benefitting Kentuckians are entirely the work of Democrats:
passed on a straight party-line vote. Not a single member of my party voted for it, McConnell said. He continued, So youre going to get a lot more money. I didnt vote for it, but youre going to get a lot more money.
While giving Democrats all the credit is certainly a bold messaging strategy for the Republican Senate Leader, its likely their only option after House and Senate Republicans tried and failed over and over and over again to get away with voting no but taking the dough.
America is on track for a historic economic recovery thanks to President Biden and Congressional Democrats American Rescue Plan which put money in workers pockets and vaccines in arms. If there was any doubt of the ARPs success, Mitch McConnell put that to rest this week you know the evidence of Democrats success is overwhelming when even Mitch McConnell is giving credit where its due for money coming to his home state.
Read key points from HuffPosts article detailing McConnells remarks on the subject below.
HuffPost: Mitch McConnell Admits Democrats Deserve All The Credit For $4 Billion Coming To Kentucky
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There Have Been Few Signs Of Movement Among Republicans
The Freedom to Vote Act was negotiated by a group of Senate Democrats, including Manchin, who was his partys lone holdout on the sweeping voting rights measure that passed the House earlier this year. Parts of the House-passed bill, called the For the People Act, were scaled back to win over Manchins support, as well as some Republicans. Manchin played a key role in courting Republican support for the compromise bill in recent weeks.
But Republicans didnt budge.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that it was his hope and anticipation that no Republicans would vote for the Freedom to Vote Act, which he described as an attempt by Democratic lawmakers to have the federal government take over how elections are conducted all over America.
Carbon Capture And Energy Efficiency
McConnell tends to play defense on climate change.
He has not put forward his own climate plan, nor have Republicans in the Senate under his leadership.
After the House of Representatives passed cap-and-trade legislation in 2009, McConnell referred to the bill as the national energy tax, and said he was glad to see its demise in the Senate, which did not even put it up for a vote.
Now McConnell is touting his support for carbon capture and storagea technology embraced by many Republicans as a way to keep burning coal in a carbon-constrained worldand for budgets that include energy efficiency. He favors, he says, common sense and actually attainable solutions to protect our environment.
The League of Conservation Voters gives McConnell a 14 percent 2019 score and a 7 percent lifetime score for his votes on environmental legislation.
McConnell has defended his overall environmental record, mentioning his funding of local conservation efforts in Kentucky and his backing of this years bipartisan Great American Outdoor Act. The Act, signed into law by President Trump, provides $900 million in annual funding for public land protection and up to $1.9 billion a year for five years to fund a maintenance backlog at national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges.
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Fears Of The Tea Party And Trump
McConnell had long been wary of Trump even drawing a line straight backto his opposition to Goldwater as a student. He told CNN in 2016 that he was worried Trump would alienate Hispanic voters the way Goldwater lost Black votes by opposing the Civil Rights Act. Trumps attacks on prominent Hispanics were a big mistake, McConnell said at the time. He said the general election was a choice between two very unpopular candidates, very unpopular.
But after Trump won, McConnell rapidly got over those concerns. Thats a path he has followed repeatedly as a Senate leader bowing to the extremes of his party whenever it became clear they would win.
McConnell found himself targeted by the rising tea party movement, which derided him for playing a key role in 2008 for helping to bail out some financial institutions in the wake of the financial crisis. His admirers lauded the bipartisan effort. He got it through the Senate … because he understood the importance of getting this done, of governing, said former senator Judd Gregg , who worked with McConnell on the effort.
After the tea party blasted McConnell as too moderate and willing to work with Democrats, he bemoaned the Republican-on-Republican violence. He was so worried about the movements rightward tilt that he injected himself in his home state Senate race, endorsing Grayson, the Kentucky secretary of state, over the libertarian Rand Paul, who became a tea party leader.
Trump Repeats Call For Gop To Oust Mitch Mcconnell As Punishment For Working With Democrats To Stop The Us Defaulting On Its Debt
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Trump called for GOP House Minority leader Mitch McConnell to be removed from his position.
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It comes after McConnell cut a new deal with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling.
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Trump previously called in October for McConnell to be ousted before the deal was done.
Former President Donald Trump called for Republicans to rebel against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and oust him from his leadership position as vengeance for brokering a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling.
Trump called McConnell a “broken old crow” and criticized him for working with Senate Democrats on the debt ceiling deal instead of using it as leverage to oppose President Joe Biden’s spending plans.
McConnell gave Democrats limited support in the Senate, allowing them to overcome to filibuster rule and use their own votes to lift the debt ceiling, a limit beyond which the US government is forbidden to borrow.
“Mitch McConnell is giving the Democrats victory on everything,” Trump said in a statement issued by his spokesperson Liz Harrington through Twitter on Sunday.
“What is wrong with this Broken Old Crow? He’s hurting the Republican Senators and the Republican Party. When will they vote him out of Leadership?
“He didn’t have the guts to play the Debt Ceiling card, which would have given the Republicans a complete victory on virtually everything. The Dems were ready to fold!”
Liz Harrington
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Relationship With Obama Administration
As the leading Republican senator, McConnell confronted and pressured other Republican senators who were willing to negotiate with Democrats and the Obama administration. According to Purdue University political scientist Bert A. Rockman, “pure party line voting has been evident now for some time … but rarely has the tactic of ‘oppositionism’ been so boldly stated as McConnell did.” According to University of Texas legal scholar Sanford Levinson, McConnell learned that obstruction and Republican unity were the optimal ways to ensure Republican gains in upcoming elections after he observed how Democratic cooperation with the Bush administration on No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D helped Bush’s 2004 re-election. Levinson noted, “McConnell altogether rationally … concluded that Republicans have nothing to gain, as a political party, from collaborating in anything that the president could then claim as an achievement.” A number of political scientists, historians, and legal scholars have characterized McConnell’s obstructionism and constitutional hardball as contributors to democratic erosion in the United States.
Use of the filibuster
In 2012 McConnell proposed a measure allowing President Obama to raise the debt ceiling, hoping some Democratic senators would oppose the measure, thus demonstrating disunity among Democrats. However, all Democratic senators supported the proposal, which led McConnell to filibuster his own proposal.
Democrats Are Making Mitch Mcconnell The Star Of Senate Race Advertising
Democratic and liberal groups in three states with vulnerable Republican senators are running television and digital ads linking them to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the GOPs increasingly unpopular leader in the Senate.
The spots are mirror images of ads Republicans deployed for years linking House Democrats to now-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The tactic shows how, even in an era where hatred of President Donald Trump holds together an unwieldy Democratic coalition, McConnell has still emerged as a uniquely unpopular villain in U.S. politics.
McConnell has been at the center of the obstruction and special interest deals that have broken the Senate for years, but under Donald Trump hes come under a bright national spotlight that has turned his obstruction and corruption into a serious problem for Republican senators, said Joshua Karp, a Democratic strategist working for the progressive group Fix Our Senate. Across the map, theyre facing serious consequences for supporting him.
Its unclear, at least for now, if anti-McConnell messaging can actually sway independent voters and become a central feature of the battle for the Senate. Polling indicates that McConnell is clearly disliked but lacks universal name identification. Republicans remain skeptical that McConnell will become a central villain for anyone other than committed Democratic partisans.
The drug companies control Gardner, McConnell and the Senate, the ads narrator says.
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Majority And Minority Leaders
The positions of party floor leaders are not included in the Constitution but developed gradually in the 20th century. The first floor leaders were formally designated in 1920 and 1925 .
The Senate Republican and Democratic floor leaders are elected by the members of their party in the Senate at the beginning of each Congress. Depending on which party is in power, one serves as majority leader and the other as minority leader. The leaders serve as spokespersons for their partys positions on issues. The majority leader schedules the daily legislative program and fashions the unanimous consent agreements that govern the time for debate.
The majority leader has the right to be called upon first if several senators are seeking recognition by the presiding officer, which enables him to offer motions or amendments before any other senator.
The majority leader usually works closely with the minority leader so that, as Senator Bob Dole explained, we never surprise each other on the floor. The party leaders meet frequently with the president and with the leaders of the House of Representatives. The majority leader also greets foreign dignitaries visiting the Capitol.
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Trump Condemns Violence Calls For Calm In Video Released After Being Impeached Again
President Donald Trump has released a video condemning the violent insurrection he fomented at the Capitol last week. The video was released Wednesday after he was impeached by the House for a record second time, this time with Republican votes. Trump also called on his supporters to remain peaceful amid concerns about additional violence in the days before President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration.
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Opinion: Mitch Mcconnell Still The Crucial Republican Leader
Sen. Mitch McConnell will remain majority leader until noon on Jan. 20, with the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. At that moment, McConnell will then become the equal in influence of any minority leader in Senate history. No doubt he is already planning how to wield that power for the GOP and the good of the country.
As I have noted before, rule-of-law conservatives owe an enormous debt to McConnell for protecting the Constitution and its separation of powers, checks on administrative agencies and robust individual rights, particularly those of free exercise of religion, speech and property.
In 2016, McConnell refused to be railroaded by the chattering class into consenting to President Barack Obamas filling of the Supreme Court vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Again defying liberals condemnation, McConnell joined with then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley in 2018 and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey O. Graham in 2020 in guiding the Supreme Court nominations of Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to confirmation. McConnell has also kept a laser focus on the appointments of appeals court judges, ensuring that the Constitutions protections of American freedoms will be preserved for decades.
The only thing that can deeply injure the Republicans is division. And the partys unity is essential in an increasingly unstable era at home and abroad.
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