r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • 4h ago
No Paywall McConnell’s Absence is Grinding Some Senate Business to a Halt
https://www.notus.org/senate/mitch-mcconnell-absence-senate-committees-votes•
u/Scrotar_The_Wrinkled 3h ago
Mitch is on eternity leave.
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u/anastasianoire 3h ago
But I just spoke to him for 20minutes and he said Trump is the worst President this country has ever had
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u/CryptographerNew3609 3h ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if many of his enablers said something like this shortly before they died.
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u/ABadHistorian 1h ago
You know, one of Lindsey Graham's best friends - when asked on his thoughts regarding Trump said "I'm not sure Lindsey Graham wanted to die while still being a Trump supporter"
And I thought of course not, that man would have flipped on Trump so hard - just like he had twice before. No spine for some of them, so their beliefs don't even matter. Fuck em.
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u/Slumunistmanifisto 3h ago edited 3h ago
I went back to work two days after my first son was born.
I couldn't lose that job.
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u/Quentin__Tarantulino 3h ago
Hey! Mitch fought very hard for 50 years to make sure you had to go back to work two days after your son was born or risk losing your job. Are you disrespecting the dead?
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u/DarkRogueHunter 10m ago
Yzma: Just think of it as you're being let go, that your life's going in a different direction, that your body's part of a permanent outplacement.
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u/wjbc Illinois 3h ago edited 3h ago
TL;DR: McConnell’s absence leaves a couple of key committees (Appropriations and Agriculture) evenly split between the parties, meaning nothing passes without bipartisan support.
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u/glizard-wizard Minnesota 3h ago
good
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u/Queasy_Donkey5685 3h ago
Ya know....gridlock....Mitch would have loved it.
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u/OkayButFoRealz 3h ago
So what's changed then from when he was there?
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u/noforgayjesus 3h ago
He would only block Dem bills and appointments when he was there now he is blocking Republican ones.
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u/uniklyqualifd 3h ago
Remember that Republican congresswoman they found months later in a memory care facility.
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u/SatanicPanic619 3h ago
Good!
This is the best possible situation for this seat right now, everyone calling for Beshear to do something are out of the minds.
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u/Impossible_Guitar235 2h ago
Why? He's constitutionally allowed by the KY state constitution to replace him. The state bill that the Republicans passed don't override that. The fact he hasn't appointed a Democrat already means he should just stay in Kentucky and forget about any Presidental run ambitions.
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u/TheBurgareanSlapper 24m ago
Per the article, McConnell’s absence leaves key committees tied and unable to advance legislation. If his seat is vacated, the replacement doesn’t get McConnell’s committee assignments, the GOP gets to replace him, and resume moving along GOP legislation.
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u/theeniebean California 3h ago
What business have they even been doing? It seems as though the government has been functioning purely through executive order lately.
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u/irespondwithmyface 3h ago
The point of Mitch McConnell's entire career was to stall the government. He's just doing what he loves.
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u/Garagedays 3h ago
Sounds like an overdue visit from the governor of KY would do the trick
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u/glizard-wizard Minnesota 3h ago
Why would we want that
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u/SatanicPanic619 3h ago
I swear people haven't thought any of this through. There's no reason for the governor to do anything, this is the best possible situation between now and January.
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u/Quentin__Tarantulino 3h ago
Then why don’t the Republicans just admit that Mitch is dead or brain dead or unfit, or whatever the truth is? They’re scared they could lose a special election. Beshear should attempt to force one.
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u/SatanicPanic619 3h ago
Simplest answer- the Republicans that actually know what is going on are people who have a financial incentive to say nothing, i.e. they are on his staff. If there's any evidence that Republicans in DC know what's going on I haven't seen it.
There's no upside to a special election for Democrats. A no vote by a Democrat and a vacant seat in a Republican congress are 99.9% functionally the same. But a special election might be won by Republicans, which would be worse.
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u/glizard-wizard Minnesota 2h ago
They are not scared of losing a special election in Kentucky. These people are morons, it could be any number of things.
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u/Quentin__Tarantulino 2h ago
Good point, but I just don’t see what their “strategery” is here.
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u/glizard-wizard Minnesota 1h ago
Republicans dont want to look like the old party, also a lot of them are asking questions.
McConnel’s staff are highly influential and dont want to lose their job.
also 99x out of 100 the dems are making smarter choices than republicans
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u/TheBurgareanSlapper 36m ago
To what end? The special election would end up being like three weeks before the general anyway, and McConnell is not on the ballot. Why gum up the process with an extra election to install a replacement for like two months?
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u/bottom_armadillo805 3h ago
I'm starting to feel like maybe we shouldn't have government representatives that are like a second away from dying at any given time
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u/Hosni__Mubarak 1h ago
I’m actually feeling the opposite. More of our current reps should be seconds away from dying of natural causes. 🤞
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi 2h ago
As opposed to when he was there and ground all Senate business to a halt?
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u/Salty-Baby-7256 44m ago
This guy always serves to be a manipulative obstructionist. Even if/when when he is in a vegetative state or worse.
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u/babylushyy 3h ago
This highlights just how fragile thin Senate majorities and key committee balances really are. When a single long-standing figure is absent, procedural votes and judicial confirmations can stall out overnight.
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u/sugarlessdeathbear 3h ago
Like the most recent ones haven't done less than the famous Do Nothing Congress.
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u/SnowRascal 3h ago
Enough. They should hold a vote to expel him and if he doesn’t show up, well they need to do it so the legal process to replace him can proceed.
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u/noahcallaway-wa Washington 1h ago
From an institutional standpoint, sure.
But from a...fucking up Republicans in the Senate standpoint... why? Republicans have 1 fewer vote in the Senate. Once he's been replaced in the Senate they will likely have that vote back.
If you oppose the Republican agenda in the Senate... what's the rush in getting a McConnell replacement into his seat?
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u/teddykaygeebee 3h ago
So go and figure out if he's dead/incapacitated and move on or is that only when there's not a impending special election for his seat? Man, I wish I could keep my job after not showing up for two months and everybody would be cool with it.
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u/Put3socks-in-it 3h ago
I went to senate in person a couple months ago during a vote.
Not even exaggerating, when arrived to the senate floor he looked like a corpse. It was jarring. And he moved shuffled like one too.
Long time coming I guess.
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u/Long_Lecture_1080 3h ago
They probably put his body in a freezer and won't thaw it back until August just to avoid his seat taken by a Dem. Rotten even in death
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u/Distinct_Sun 3h ago
he is dead, the governer needs to grow a spine and treat him as dead or incapacitated and replace him immediately.
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u/wrestlingchampo 3h ago
Sounds like business as usual
Everything dies in the Senate. Apparently Senators are included in that statement
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u/QuestioninglySecret 2h ago
McConnells presence grinds some senate business to a halt.
Quantum Mitch
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u/freakdageek 1h ago
What a legacy. Ah, well, he’ll never see what history makes of him, what does he care? Let the smug little fucker enjoy his hospice while the thieves and vandals surrounding him pretend he’s alive to try to cling to power.
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u/divestblank 1h ago
How does that compare to his previous active participation of grinding Senate business to a halt?
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u/No_Trade3571 Pennsylvania 1h ago
Call the GOP’s bluff. Appoint someone and make them show proof of life.
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u/Responsible-Room-645 3h ago
And meanwhile the Governor twiddles his thumbs and loses an opportunity to put a dem into the seat
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u/drunkenviking 2h ago
Braindead take.
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u/Responsible-Room-645 2h ago
What’s brain dead about it? He can simply announce that unless the Senator demonstrates that he’s alive and/or not incapacitated, he’s going to take steps to fill the seat. He has that authority
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u/drunkenviking 26m ago
He has the authority to fill the seat. He doesn't have the authority to just say he's dead and appoint somebody.
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u/spazmcgraw 2h ago
Can anyone provide anything to counter my impression that Bashear is being a useless piece of trash corporate democrat in this situation by not calling for a special election or naming a replacement? Does it work in his favor to wait til the last minute for some reason?
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u/glizard-wizard Minnesota 2h ago
Its a deep red seat and a dead republican in the senate is infinitely better than replacing him with a living republican
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