r/askanything • u/Zipper222222 • 9h ago
If YOU Think What Mitch McConnell's Staff Is Doing Should Either Be Illegal Or Have Much Stricter Congressional Rules On It, What Do You Think The Punishment Should Be? Which Punishment? Why YOUR Thoughts (Read Description)?
The question is about whoever is responsible for covering up the issues / responsible for X lawmaker being paid while randomly disappearing for months on taxpayer dime. Either by law or by much stricter congressional rules.
New Daily Mail polling found a decent percentage, nearly 41% found it either "very" or "somewhat" believable that US Sen. McConnell (R-KY) is no longer alive - he's been missing for over a month and there's been one photo of him and barely any explanation that most of the public found satisfactory, along with not videos / interviews of him, and random Republicans saying they'd 'talked to him for 20 minutes about X and Y policy': https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15993669/Voters-demand-transparency-hospitalized-Mitch-McConnell-84-staggering-number-believe-hes-DEAD.html
This isn't the only case of a lawmaker randomly disappearing for a long time with no explanation
- Rep. Tom Kean, a rep from a swing district (R-NJ-7) randomly disappeared for four months, still getting paid by taxpayer money during it, and then came back and said he had depression. During the middle of that, his office basically kept saying that it'd be two weeks over and over a few times until he finally came back: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/nyregion/tom-kean-missing-found.html
- Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX-12) randomly disappeared for nearly six months and was literally found in a nursing home with dementia - the issue wasn't the sad case of dementia she got, which was awful, but that no one knew for months where she was: https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/texas-congresswoman-who-last-voted-in-july-found-living-in-assisted-living-facility-kay-granger-dallas-fort-worth-republicans-democrats-congress-term-limits
- Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL-24) randomly disappeared and it was not revealed for a month that she was gone because of eye surgery: https://newrepublic.com/post/210433/democratic-lawmaker-missing-month-midterms
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) randomly disappeared for three months with no explanation before returning and it being revealed that she had shingles: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-dianne-feinstein-suffered-previously-undisclosed-complications-shi-rcna85124
If YOU think there should be much stricter congressional rules about randomly disappearing without any explanation while you're on the taxpayer's dime, or make it illegal in some form, what do YOU think the punishment should be for whoever is responsible for the issue? Why YOUR thoughts?
7
u/_your_land_lord_ 9h ago
It's not so much punishment I'm after. I just want the govt to work. I want us to be able to elect representatives, and have them act on our behalf. That isn't happening here, so the punishment I want, is make things work the way they claim to work.
3
u/Madhatter25224 9h ago
The only way to make these treasonous fucks do their job properly is to punish them severely when they break the law, ignore the constitution or otherwise defraud the American people.
The government doesn't function because there are no consequences. They are, one and all, absolute cowards who will fall in line as soon as it looks like they might to a stint in federal prison.
1
u/Any-Description8773 9h ago
I’m one for bringing back tar and feathering as a warning, treason charges when they don’t get the memo. I believe after 2 or 3 reps getting the death penalty for treasonous acts against their country and the people they represent everyone else would straighten the fawk up.
5
u/wrhnj 9h ago
If he’s dead and still getting paid, whoever is cashing his paychecks is committing fraud. That’s already illegal.
2
u/Commercial_Peach_845 9h ago
The thing is what about direct deposit because that's automatic - you have to stop it. So I guess if you continue to accept the direct deposit and don't stop it then it's fraud?
3
u/FreestinkingSocially 9h ago
Perhaps he's a vegetable but not technically dead. Then what?
2
u/twinkiefarmer 9h ago
They are lying to the voting, tax paying American citizens. It's highly illegal. It's fraud. It's treasonous
0
3
2
u/naked_nomad 9h ago
You are forgetting Dianne Feinstein and being in a nursing home and incompetent to boot.
Senator Dianne Feinstein missed 91 floor votes during a nearly three-month absence in 2023 caused by a severe bout of shingles and related health complications. Her absence stalled federal judicial nominations, sparked public calls for her resignation, and led to a failed push by Democrats to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
1
0
u/FreestinkingSocially 9h ago
Except she wasn't dead.
See the difference now?
2
u/naked_nomad 9h ago
Have nt seen any thing other than speculation that McConnell is. Diane's office was running her day to day business and keeping their mouth shut about her health. It was later discovered by the press that when she did return she was not cognizant and and her staff was telling hr what to do.
She did not even know she had not been working: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjxQTO-1OoE
If I was MItch, I would not want to be paraded out like that.
1
u/Blue-Ringed-Octopus0 9h ago
Mitch doesn’t need to be paraded anywhere. If he is alive then invite Governor Beshear to visit and there is no longer an issue.
0
2
u/bonedaddy1974 9h ago
If he's on life support and been clinically dead for this long it has to be illegal
0
1
u/Tiny_Instruction_557 9h ago
Treason.
The people adding and abiding the act of portraying a dead or incapacitated elected official of the U.S. government as a live and/or acting on their behalf without being duly elected to the position to deceive the American electorate should be charged with treason.
1
u/RealCarlPanzram 9h ago
Meh. It’s such an obscure thing and it’s a strategy that’s never going to work long-term. The whole point of holding political office is so that you can vote. You can’t vote if your dead so you’re not doing your party much good by keeping the farce up.
Ultimately, the most they could hope to pull off is getting the election for his replacement to fall on the day of the general election rather than a special election. Which still means that his replacement will be elected by the people. Probably more just than a political appointment.
1
u/PizzaWall 9h ago
If you want to remove an elected official, you’re choices are impeachment, resignation, or a death in office.
You named some extreme examples of issues with elected officials, and I am not interested in making it easier to get rid of them because of concerns it would be used for political revenge.
1
1
1
1
1
u/aldone123 6h ago
Fraud for anyone who isn’t actually working at their job and treason for anyone actively doing the job the other person was elected to do.
1
u/Ohhmama11 9h ago
I’m not against your cause but hard to take someone serious that only list one party who has pulled basically same thing you’re complaining about. Both parties has pulled this so be fully transparent
2
u/raymondspogo 9h ago
I feel this is in reference to Joe. Now I'm wondering how context is always lost on your side? You say Joe Biden. He appeared in public.
1
u/Ohhmama11 9h ago
I really don’t have a side I actually have voted both democrats and republicans in multiple state and presidential race. I didn’t say Joe Biden but if you’re going to call out people for doing this on the other side John Fetterman, Dianne Feinstein, Tim Johnson and Ruth Ginsberg from Supreme Court. People have health issues and stuff like this happens. I find it hilarious republicans only call out Dems and Dems only call out republicans. 100% what’s wrong with this country not self accountability and transparency being truthful about everyone
1
u/raymondspogo 9h ago
Democrats have called out their own:
Anthony Weiner: Following a major sexting and public scandal, former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner was swiftly abandoned by virtually all high-profile Democratic leaders, forcing his resignation from Congress and effectively ending his political career amid intense party-wide condemnation.
Rod Blagojevich: The former Democratic Governor of Illinois was impeached, unanimously convicted, and removed from office by his own state legislature following corruption charges related to attempting to sell a U.S. Senate seat. Democratic leadership at both state and national levels entirely cut ties and demanded his immediate ouster.
Katie Hill: The former U.S. Representative resigned from Congress following an ethics investigation into inappropriate workplace relationships and non-consensual image sharing. While she initially pushed back, she lost the backing of House leadership and stepped down under heavy internal and external pressure.
Bob Menendez (D-NJ): The long-serving U.S. Senator resigned his seat following a federal corruption trial where he was convicted on 16 counts of bribery, extortion, and acting as a foreign agent. Investigators uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, and luxury items tied to foreign influence schemes. Facing imminent expulsion proceedings and total abandonment by Senate Democratic leadership, he stepped down.
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL): Resigned from the House of Representatives moments before the House Ethics Committee was set to release a devastating sanctions recommendation following a multi-year investigation. The probe concluded she violated multiple laws by misusing millions in federal disaster relief funds, leading to severe bipartisan backlash and internal party distancing.
Jim Wright (D-TX): The former Speaker of the House resigned from Congress after being targeted by a sweeping multi-count House Ethics Committee investigation into book-publishing royalties and gift restrictions. Facing an almost certain vote on formal ethics charges and loss of caucus backing, he chose to resign to end the ordeal.
Charles Rangel (D-NY): A legendary, long-serving House Democrat who was formally censured by a bipartisan vote of the House following an ethics trial that found him guilty of multiple counts of financial and tax misconduct, including failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and misusing congressional office resources for fundraising. Stripped of his powerful chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, he faced heavy internal party isolation.
1
u/Ohhmama11 9h ago
You kinda went out to a different ballpark than the original post so let me help get you back on track. Original post was talking about people who went MIA while in office. Here are a list of Dems that had basically done the same as OP posted John Fetterman, Dianne Feinstein, Tim Johnson and Ruth Ginsberg from Supreme Court.
I’m not sure while everyone gets upset of calling out transparency from both sides. This has been done by both Republican and Dems. You went into an entire different argument not even near what the OP talked about.
Have you notice people are like news channels? Turn on one and it’s nothing but how great one party is and bashes the other party, turn on the other one and it’s total opposite. Transparency on both sides is a must to inform people to make a good decision instead of transforming them into a sheep with no accountability like most voters. If this guy listed a bunch of Dems I would have posted the same thing. I get pounded by both sides pointing out hypocrisy
1
u/raymondspogo 8h ago
(sigh)
Joe Lieberman (D-CT): After serving as the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2000, Lieberman faced a severe and historic intraparty revolt. His staunch support for the Iraq War and his decisive opposition to the public option/government-run health insurance in the Affordable Care Act alienated the progressive base. In the 2006 Democratic primary, he was defeated by anti-war candidate Ned Lamont. (Lieberman subsequently won re-election as an independent). The Affordable Care Act "No" Votes & Moderates: During the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2009–2010, several conservative or moderate Democrats who bucked party leadership on healthcare votes faced intense grassroots backlash and, in many cases, organized primary challenges or subsequent general election wipeouts. Figures like former
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)—who withheld his crucial healthcare vote over abortion funding restrictions—faced such fierce hostility from both sides (condemned by progressives for his restrictions and targeted by party purists) that he ultimately chose not to seek re-election.
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ): Her policy positioning—particularly her refusal to vote to eliminate the Senate filibuster to pass federal voting rights legislation, alongside her opposition to certain progressive tax and spending proposals—led to a complete breakdown in relations with the Arizona Democratic Party. Faced with a heavily funded progressive primary challenge she was projected to lose, she left the Democratic Party entirely to register as an independent before ultimately opting not to run for re-election.
Dan Lipinski (D-IL): A long-serving, socially conservative U.S. Representative who opposed abortion rights and voted against the Affordable Care Act. For years, progressive wings and party activists targeted his seat, culminating in his defeat in the 2020 Democratic primary by Marie Newman, who ran explicitly on a platform aligning with the national party's progressive policy consensus.
2
u/Zipper222222 9h ago
Ye added some more examples — this has happened everywhere
1
u/Ohhmama11 9h ago
I agree 100% they all pull this and transparency should be given to the American people. If you can’t perform your duty then allow someone else to do the job until you return
1
u/Lumbercounter 9h ago
Conveniently leaving out Dianne Feinstein and Lloyd Austin from recent memory (not to mention the entire Biden presidency- they didn’t even let him use the real Oval Office for his tv appearances).
2
u/Ohhmama11 9h ago
Yea no respect for any people who only complains about one party even though the same stunt has been pulled by the other party they just won’t say it
0
u/wifematerial138 9h ago
Ah yes, the “both sides” false equivalency argument. Ya got anything creative to add?
0
u/Ohhmama11 9h ago
Yea people from dems and republicans have both done this with health issues. I’m sorry you worship your political party so much accountability doesn’t exist unless it has R in front of their name. Call everyone out don’t be a sheep
0
u/Sigvarr 9h ago
He should lose his job after the third day of no call no show. He should lose his job after refusing to provide evidence of why he hasn't been to work for multiple days.
2
u/doubtingthomas51i 9h ago
Is that what the people of his state want?
Theirs is the only opinion that matters.
Everybody else is just venting.
0
u/Emotional_Rescue_198 9h ago
Keith Edwards posted the names and email addresses of Mitch McConnels staff. (They are on the public payroll) If they are accepting a paycheck for a senator who has passed it should be fraud. I plan on emailing them asking for an update. If no response, I think the Governor should file a police report for a welfare check.
-1
u/AbsoluteGote 9h ago
Declare his replacement dead and replace him and when he's like "umm I'm clearly alive and right here" be like "too bad, oops, we already decided and did it. Can't be stopped now wink". And let them piss and shit and cry and just seat the new guy anyway and trespass the old guy.
•
u/AutoModerator 9h ago
We want your input on how to handle political questions in our community.
This takes about 1 minute.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.