1/4/19
With the partial government shutdown closing in on two weeks and no end in sight, Mitch McConnell says Democrats are privately urging him to help find a way out of the impasse. Not going to happen, says the Senate majority leader. “I don’t see how that leads to an outcome. And I want to get an outcome,” McConnell said in a brief hallway interview on Thursday. “That will be determined by the president and Senate Democrats.” The Kentucky Republican’s portrayal of himself as secondary to both President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the bitter dispute over Trump’s border wall is an unusual role for him, and he knows it. McConnell, after all, says he’s the guy that gets the government out of shutdowns, not into them. McConnell might be the Republican Democrats love to hate, but he knows how to make deals, and he can deliver the votes he promises.
But this time around Democrats are claiming the GOP leader has abandoned his central role in resolving the shutdown despite his control of the Senate floor, all while undercutting Congress’ independence from the executive branch. As Schumer, the Senate minority leader, put it: “The power to end the shutdown is in two people's hands: Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell.” “The pressure will build on McConnell,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “Because right now he has contracted out the whole Senate Republican caucus to President Trump and the White House. They’re violating their constitutional duty.” “The pressure will build on McConnell,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “Because right now he has contracted out the whole Senate Republican caucus to President Trump and the White House. They’re violating their constitutional duty.”“The pressure will build on McConnell,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “Because right now he has contracted out the whole Senate Republican caucus to President Trump and the White House. They’re violating their constitutional duty.”
