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November Surprises

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 192: November Surprises

McConnell Says GOP Senators Can Distance Themselves

· 37 Comments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Republican senators facing tough re-election contests may have to figure out how to distance themselves from the party’s presidential nominee, the Huffington Post reports.

Said McConnell: “Senate races are statewide races. You can craft your own message for your own people. That’s exactly what we intend to do this fall no matter who the nominee is.”

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Two Reasons McConnell Could Capitulate on the Court

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Despite President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) held firm on his position to not consider any appointment. His view is that the next president should fill the vacancy.

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Senate Will Not Consider Supreme Court Nomination

· 264 Comments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will not consider President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, CNBC reports.

McConnell said that Obama did it “not with the intent of seeing the nominee confirmed, but in order to politicize it for the purpose of the election.”

He added the Senate will “revisit” the matter when the next president nominates someone, noting that the people should have a say in who fills the currently vacant seat.

Obama Will Meet with GOP Senators on Supreme Court

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“President Obama is to confer in the Oval Office on Tuesday with Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, and Sen. Charles Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, about filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. If everyone maintains previously stated positions, it might be a very short meeting,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Obama is adamant that he will name a nominee to the court, most likely in the next few weeks. Republicans remain just as adamant that they will not even meet with Mr. Obama’s nominee, let alone hold confirmation hearings.”

McConnell Chooses Warfare Over Governing

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Sen. Mitch McConnell’s “strategy to maintain the Republican majority has been clear: trying to prove that his party can govern. But by saying he will block a Supreme Court nominee who has not even been named, Mr. McConnell is headed toward partisan warfare instead,” the New York Times reports.

“The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has energized a right flank that has been long suspicious of Mr. McConnell and forced him into a fight that is likely to derail his smooth-functioning Senate. The tactic could alienate moderate voters and imperil incumbent Republicans in swing states, but in the supercharged partisanship of a Supreme Court fight, he probably had no choice.”

For members: How Republicans Badly Misfired on the Supreme Court

McConnell Says Senate Will Wait to Replace Scalia

· 200 Comments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “believes the U.S. Senate should wait 11 months for the next president to be sworn in before confirming a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia,” CBS News reports.

Said McConnell: “The American people‎ should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

McConnell Says Obama Is ‘Smart’ But ‘a Little Preachy’

· 24 Comments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told Yahoo News that he disputes President Obama’s diagnosis of American politics as toxic and tribal and sharply disagrees with the president’s proposed cures.

Reflecting on nearly eight years of working with Obama, McConnell also described him as “a very smart guy” but “a little preachy.”

Reid-McConnell Relationship Hits New Low

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Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell “sat down for a rare face-to-face meeting on the last day of November. The agenda was straightforward — plotting out the legislative agenda for the end of the year — but what transpired has pushed the relationship between the veteran Senate leaders, never warm and fuzzy, to a new low of bitterness and distrust,” Politico reports.

“Reid left the meeting seething with rage, associates of the Democratic leader said, after McConnell told Reid that legislative language to help 9/11 responders and challenge a boycott against Israeli goods would be left out of a must-pass transportation bill. Within a day, Reid’s allies were going public to portray McConnell as using 9/11 heroes as negotiating chips, and later that week Reid said it was solely McConnell who blocked the Israel language.”

The Hill reports both Reid and McConnell are disputing this story.

McConnell Suggests New Look at Patriot Act

· 5 Comments

“The Senate may re-open debate on National Security Agency wire-tapping authority following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the Associated Press on Wednesday, broaching a divisive issue already roiling the GOP presidential field.”

“The Kentucky Republican said in an interview in his Capitol office that the terror attacks abroad and on U.S. soil have raised questions about Congress’ wisdom in limiting the authority earlier this year, something he personally opposed. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida sided with McConnell at the time, but Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was on the other side, and the two GOP presidential candidates have clashed heatedly on the issue, including in Tuesday night’s debate.”

McConnell Pledges Ambitious Agenda for 2016

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Politico: “Now, heading into an election-year political environment that won’t exactly tilt toward legislative headway, McConnell is nonetheless promising that the Senate won’t get stuck in the doldrums. Topping his agenda is a push to pass all 12 appropriations bills, a goal that’s eluded Congress since 1994. The larger objective is to make the case to voters in 2016 that the GOP Senate is in capable hands — and so they should keep it that way.”

“The Senate leader will have to navigate some serious obstacles to overcome election-year inertia next year, starting with the four GOP senators running for president and Democrats who are licking their chops to retake the chamber. But the election isn’t a reason to sit back, McConnell said.”

McConnell Issues Warning on Trade Deal

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “dealt a significant blow” to President Obama’s trade agenda, “declaring that a sweeping pact with 11 Pacific Rim nations should not be sent to Congress for approval until after the 2016 elections — and maybe not until after Obama leaves office,” the Washington Post reports.

Said McConnell: “Yeah, I think it would be a big mistake to send it up before the election.”

Washington Post: “McConnell’s comments should serve as a reality-check antidote to optimism that has come out of the White House on issues like criminal justice reform and from Speaker Paul Ryan, who dreams of passing a bunch of big-ticket items to demonstrate that Republicans can govern.”

Behind McConnell’s Effort to Win Over Cruz

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“Mitch McConnell is close to pulling off a feat that at first seemed impossible: Coax Ted Cruz and antagonistic conservative groups to back his strategy to repeal Obamacare,” Politico reports.

“For weeks, Cruz, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate and chief McConnell nemesis, and conservative Sens. Mike Lee and Marco Rubio threatened to vote against a House-passed bill dismantling the health care law… Now, nearly a dozen GOP sources say Cruz and Rubio are almost certain to support the bill that kills significant portions of Obamacare, though they hadn’t yet made their position official.”

“McConnell marshaled a secret weapon that ultimately would work in his favor: Anti-abortion groups.”

McConnell Would Remove Limits on Party Spending

· 24 Comments

“Senate Republicans plan to insert a provision into a must-pass government funding bill that would vastly expand the amount of cash that political parties could spend on candidates,” multiple sources tell Politico.

“The provision, which sources say is one of a few campaign-finance related riders being discussed in closed-door negotiations over a $1.15 trillion omnibus spending package, would eliminate caps on the amount of cash that parties may spend in coordination with their candidates.”

McConnell Pressures Paul to Focus on Senate Race

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his allies “are quietly ratcheting up pressure on Rand Paul to pay more attention to his Senate reelection next year — and less to his flagging 2016 presidential candidacy,” Politico reports.

“So far, those efforts have stopped short of urging the Kentucky senator, whose presidential bid McConnell has formally endorsed, to outright abandon his national campaign. But there are growing concerns that Paul, as a senator still in his first term in office, is courting trouble by dividing his time between the two races, raising the prospect that a rock-ribbed Republican seat could be put into play and jeopardize McConnell’s fragile 54-seat GOP majority.”

McConnell Explores Weakening Filibuster

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “is opening the door to changing the filibuster in response to growing pressure from Republicans angered that Democrats have blocked legislation from reaching the White House,” The Hill reports.

“McConnell has appointed a special task force to explore changes to the filibuster rule and other procedural hurdles — including whether to eliminate filibusters on motions to proceed to legislation. That’s a tactic the minority often uses to shut down a bill before amendments can be considered.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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