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Senator Mitch McConnell has armed Donald Trump in every turn since the former president left the White House, ignoring his political demands and ignoring attempts to oust him as minority leader.
This week, the Kentucky Republican struck a deal with Senate Democrats to temporarily lift the debt ceiling over Trump’s objections and calls for his replacement as the top House Republican, a perch he has since occupied. almost 15 years. This is part of a pattern that has been repeated since the defeat of the former president last November. Trump insists that McConnell supports or opposes a policy or takes a course of action, and the Minority Leader opposes it.
Trump recently escalated his feud with McConnell by arguing for his impeachment as Senate Minority Leader. “Mitch is not the guy, not the right guy, he doesn’t do the job,” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. McConnell’s reaction was the same: no reaction; and not the slightest hint of altering his leadership strategy to satisfy a former president who happens to maintain great support among the rank and file Republican voters.
“McConnell has one goal: to help Republicans regain control of the Senate with the goal of adopting Republican political goals and stifling the Democratic agenda,” said Scott Jennings, Republican agent in Louisville and longtime councilor of the Senate. McConnell. “Trump falters in public relations [gambit] next; McConnell is playing a longer game where there are real political and political goals at the end of a trip. “
McConnell and Trump got tangled up periodically during the 45th president’s tenure, but generally found common ground on key laws and executive and federal judicial appointments. But their relationship has grown acrimonious since Trump lost his candidacy for a second term to President Joe Biden and McConnell refused to join his fanciful claims that the 2020 election had been stolen and recognized the new administration. Since then, they have only moved away from each other.
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In the final days of Trump’s presidency, McConnell became a vocal critic of his leadership, although he voted against his conviction on a single impeachment article alleging he had instigated the rampage of the United States Capitol by his base supporters on January 6. In the months that followed, as Trump issued scathing statements criticizing McConnell and giving him marching orders on how to handle the Biden agenda, the Kentuckian gave him a cold shoulder.
McConnell, 79, did not acquiesce and did not respond to provocations from the 75-year-old former president.
That approach – whether it’s rejecting Trump to get nearly 20 Republicans to join Senate Democrats in backing Biden’s $ 1 trillion infrastructure package, or agreeing to provide enough of the country’s votes. GOP to pass a two-month, $ 480 billion debt ceiling hike – helped senator’s seventh-term retain the confidence and support of the 49 Republicans he leads, some of whom are staunch supporters of Trump. Others present themselves publicly because they are considering a presidential candidacy in 2024.
“Obviously Mitch calculated, I think correctly, that the right way to deal with Trump was to turn the page,” said a Republican senator, requesting anonymity in order to speak candidly. “The idea of someone defying Mitch is far-fetched.”
To explain an important aspect of why Trump’s calls to eject McConnell from leadership have gone unheeded, this Republican compared the Minority Leader to Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who has become a fierce critic of the past president since Jan 6 and lost her # 3 Ranking Position as House GOP conference chair because of it. In other words, McConnell hasn’t made his feud with Trump a problem for his members.
“He probably feels as strong for Trump, if not more than Cheney, but realizes that the prudent course of action is not to comment,” the senator said. “Mitch is just a lot more disciplined. When you’re in leadership, you don’t want to be the story.
McConnell is occasionally subject to friendly fire for his decisions and did so again after negotiating a deal with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer of New York to allow a short-term increase in the limit debt. Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, complained that McConnell had backed down under pressure after saying since mid-summer that there would be no GOP vote to expand Treasury capacity American to borrow money.
“Here’s our problem as Republicans: we said for two months we were going to do one thing, in the end we did another,” the South Carolina Republican said in a speech to the Senate. “I think it matters to the people who listen to us – and who trust us. “
But over the years, with a few exceptions, McConnell tends to take no action or chart a course forward without first discussing the issues with individual Republican senators taking into account their concerns and recommendations. This means that regardless of how the GOP votes spill over to a particular bill or obscure parliamentary procedure, McConnell’s strategy is likely to have been blessed by the vast majority of his conference.
“He doesn’t drag people out kicking and screaming at something,” said one Republican lobbyist. “He makes decisions based on a lot of conversations. This is an important key.
Ironically, one high-profile issue in recent years that McConnell did not first ask his members about their preference was his decision to block Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court by then-President Barack Obama.
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Immediately after the death of Tory Judge Antonin Scalia in early 2016, McConnell announced that Garland, now the United States Attorney General, would not even be heard by the Judicial Committee, let alone a Senate vote. On the contrary, McConnell said voters should decide who will appoint his successor based on their choice of president between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton the following November.
This independent initiative by McConnell, then majority leader, proved very popular with Republicans in the Senate. In the end, it was a big boost to Trump’s outlook as well.
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Key words: News, Campaigns, Elections 2022, Elections 2024, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, debt limit, Debt ceiling
Original author: David M. Drucker
Original location: Mitch McConnell stiffens Trump as ex-president calls for impeachment
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