Ron Brownstein: “McConnell has been the immovable object: He’s frustrated House Democrats by systematically blocking Senate votes so far on the lengthening list of bills they have passed, from gun control to additional protections for patients with preexisting health problems.”

“But McConnell’s blockade faces a new challenge as the House turns to a series of bills meant to fight foreign interference in the 2020 election. Those measures, aimed at defending fundamental American institutions from foreign subversion, may be tougher for the Kentucky Republican to portray as partisan overreach than the bills the House has passed so far. And that could make them an irresistible force that strains his overall strategy of preventing action on any House legislation.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for ignoring a series of bills passed by the Democratic House, The Hill reports.

Said Pelosi: “The Republican Senate needs to wake up, and vote on these urgently needed bills immediately. If they don’t like our bipartisan bills, then they can pass their own version and we can go to conference.”

New York Times: “Seeking little credit — and getting even less — Mr. McConnell has expedited virtually everything Mr. Trump has asked of him since 2017.”

“But critics say Mr. McConnell’s acquiescence — he even strong-armed Senate rule changes to ease the president’s nominations to confirmation — has only encouraged Mr. Trump to go further out of the mainstream.”

“Mr. McConnell, speaking in his office last week, promoted his collaboration with the White House on nominations and tax reform but pushed back when asked if Mr. Trump’s unpredictable behavior had hijacked his legacy.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blocked a non-binding resolution to make special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report public, Axios reports.

“The resolution was passed unanimously in the House. McConnell cited national security concerns for his decision to block the proposal, and argued that Attorney General Bill Barr should have time to decide what’s made public.”

“Well, I mean, the ultimate check against any of this is the ballot box. And one could argue, at least with regard to the House of Representatives last year, that there were plenty of people who wanted a midcourse correction.”

— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by the New York Times Magazine.

Washington Examiner: “With President Trump in the White House and his agenda enjoying the broad support of GOP primary voters, especially on the border wall, McConnell views the political terrain and his leadership differently, say knowledgeable Republicans. That has led to deferring to the president on policy and strategy during the 26-day-old government shutdown when in the past he might have taken the reigns and killed it.”

“McConnell’s overriding interest is avoiding the sort of public warfare with Trump that threatened to decapitate his majority early in 2018, before he reached a detente with the president, and put his conference in the best position to emerge from the 2020 primaries unscathed. The majority leader is among the Republicans up for re-election next year.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “was confronted Friday night by some angry diners who loudly berated him for his politics,” TMZ reports.

“The Kentucky Senator was eating dinner with his wife at Havana Rumba in Louisville, when 4 men confronted Mitch. The main aggressor screams at McConnell, ‘Why don’t you get out of here?  Why don’t you leave the entire country?'”

“The woman who shot the video tells us, before she started recording, the main aggressor slammed his fists down on McConnell’s table, grabbed his doggie bag and threw the food out the door of the restaurant.”