Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants to be the grim reaper for the Biden agenda. The Georgia Senate runoffs torpedoed that role effectively. I don't hate Mitch. The man did great things for the Trump White House, especially when it came to getting judges confirmed. He got three Supreme Court nominees through. While Trump might have his gripes with the Kentucky Republican and vice versa, especially in the waning days of the previous administration, Mitch was good for the GOP agenda. Then, things got wobbly. But is this fight over the debt ceiling where Mitch regrows his spine? Maybe. We'll have to see come December.
First, let's go to one of Mitch McConnell's MVP moves as Senate majority leader. He blocked Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court. Antonin Scalia, a cornerstone of the conservative wing of the Supreme Court, passed away in 2016. Former President Barack Obama wanted to fill that vacancy, and Mitch blocked it. The liberal media was aghast. Liberal America seethed with rage, but Mitch and the Senate GOP held firm. It was a move that certainly helped unify the GOP base behind Trump. It provided a reason for the reluctant Republican voters to back Trump. It made the difference. It was one of the top issues on the minds of GOP voters heading to the polls in 2016.
It happened again when Democrats launched a brutal character assassination attempt against Brett Kavanaugh. Mitch did not back down. He was not fazed at all. It was "Supreme revenge." McConnell was there when Democrats derailed qualified candidate Robert Bork for the Supreme Court. It took decades, but McConnell waited in the tall grass to stick it to the Left. And he did.
The January 6 riot reportedly made McConnell sour on Trump. Though he voted against the bill to create a commission to investigate the riot, he felt Trump was morally responsible for the mayhem. The drumming from the media was deafening, but most in the party held firm and didn't make much hay of this. As of now, that commission looks impotent and a complete waste of time, which is something some of us knew from the get-go. I'm not going to relitigate the absurd comparisons the media and some anti-Trump Republicans doled out, but Mitch didn't have to sacrifice his spine to join forces that have Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger in its ranks.
On the debt ceiling, there's been a temporary raise. It's set to expire in December. Yet, not before Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer poisoned the well by bashing the GOP, moments after Senate Republicans helped avoid a default. In his letter to Biden, it reads like he's firm on making sure Senate Republicans don't help Democrats whatsoever raising the debt limit in a few weeks' time (via The Hill):
Republicans say the move [the short-term extension] helps take pressure off of Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to change the legislative filibuster and pokes a hole in Democrats' argument that they don't have enough time to raise the debt ceiling on their own.
McConnell's letter is a warning to Democrats, but also gives an early signal to his own members that he won't give Democrats the same offramp in December. The decision by McConnell this week to open the door to a short-term debt extension earned him an unusually intense level of criticism from the Senate GOP caucus, including behind-the-scenes breaks with members of his own leadership team.
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Republicans were further frustrated on Thursday night by Schumer, who railed against them right after 11 of them voted to advance the debt ceiling bill.
Schumer blasted the GOP debt ceiling strategy, accusing them of playing a "dangerous and risky partisan game" and saying Democrats were able to "pull our country back from the cliff's edge that Republicans tried to push us over."
The move angered several GOP senators as well as Manchin. Manchin and GOP Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and GOP Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) were among the senators who spoke to Schumer after the speech, with Thune telling reporters that "I let him have it."
McConnell appeared to reference Manchin, who could be seen briefly with his hands over his face during Schumer's speech.
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McConnell warned that Schumer's "childish behavior" had "alienated" GOP senators who helped advance the short-term debt increase and "poisoned the well even further." They are likely the same GOP senators Schumer would need to lean on to raise the debt ceiling outside of reconciliation later this year.
“I am writing to make it clear that in light of Senator Schumer’s hysterics and my grave concerns about the ways that another vast, reckless, partisan spending bill would hurt Americans and help China, I will not be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of Democratic mismanagement," he added.
Look, December is a long way away. It's an eternity in politics. We'll see what happens. As of now, it looks like McConnell is acting like the grim reaper. It looks like he knew Schumer would do exactly what he did after this vote. And he seems to be banking on the Left's short-term thinking as well. Right now, Biden's spending proposals are in danger of being derailed…by his own party. Like the Angel of Death, Mitch seems to be waiting for something to die. The Democrats' credibility? The Biden presidency itself? Time will tell, but keep the spine intact, sir.
