Free Republic

Republicans on Sunday defended their party against Democratic complaints that Congress is being forced to consider nominees for Donald Trump’s administration without completed ethics reviews. “All of these little procedural complaints are related to their frustration in having not only lost the White House, but having lost the Senate,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “I understand that,” he added, “but we need to sort of grow up here and get past that.” …

Today a Politico article reveals the John McCain/Lindsey Graham push to create an international crisis with Russia has found push-back from an unlikely source, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. (Politico) John McCain and Lindsey Graham are backing off of their push for a select committee on cybersecurity after Russian interference in the election, bowing to the political reality that the Senate Republican Conference largely does not back their idea. […] “We’re just going to move with the individual committees and see how that works. If it doesn’t work, we’ll regroup,” [Lindsey] Graham said in an interview. The House Intelligence Committee Chairman...

One of 2016’s most spectacular examples of government dysfunction was the U.S. Senate’s outrageous refusal to consider President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. That dereliction of duty by the Republican majority not only denied a sitting president his constitutional prerogative to fill vacancies in the court (so that the appointment would go instead to a hoped-for Republican successor). It also prevented the court from resolving a handful of cases because of a 4-4 split and probably discouraged the justices from accepting other cases because of the possibility of a...

Remember when Democrats insisted that incoming presidents had to get immediate confirmation of Cabinet appointments for the good of the nation? What a difference an (R) makes ... The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe reports on a plan by Senate Democrats to “slow walk” confirmation of Donald Trump’s appointments, including an insistence on nor more than two confirmations a week: Democratic senators plan to aggressively target eight of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees in the coming weeks and are pushing to stretch their confirmation votes into March — an unprecedented break with Senate tradition.Such delays would upend Republican hopes of quickly holding...

Soon after his inauguration next month, President-elect Donald Trump will nominate someone to the Supreme Court, which has been hamstrung by a vacancy since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. There will be public debates about the nominee’s credentials, past record, judicial philosophy and temperament. There will be Senate hearings and a vote. No matter how it plays out, Americans must remember one thing above all: The person who gets confirmed will sit in a stolen seat. It was stolen from Barack Obama, a twice-elected president who fulfilled his constitutional duty more than nine months ago by nominating...

In the first of what Mike Pence called "several very important announcements," Politico reports that former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao is set to be announced later Tuesday as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Transportation.The other contender for the position was former Democratic U.S. Representative from Tennessee Harold Ford.As Politico adds: Chao, who ran the Labor Department under President George W. Bush, met with the incoming president at Trump Tower last week and discussed labor and transportation policy, Trump’s transition team said then. The formal announcement is expected at 1 p.m., one source said. The wife of Senate...

What a difference a few weeks makes. Right up until the morning of November 8th the two parties were lined up in the political equivalent of trenches on the western front in WW1. You’d have been hard pressed to find a Democrat anywhere in the nation who wasn’t ready to declare open rhetorical warfare on Donald Trump and anyone agreeing with a single policy he endorsed. But now, with the dust largely settled, there’s a particular group of Democrats in the Senate who suddenly are finding common ground to be a good thing and are ready to work across the...

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s audacious — and roundly criticized — decision to block President Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court pending the results of the presidential election has paid off handsomely for conservatives, who until this morning had every reason to suspect the end of their long-running project to reshape the court. Donald J. Trump’s victory means the court will almost certainly have a conservative majority for years to come. Challenges to regulation by administrative fiat, class-action lawsuits and restrictions on property use will find a more hospitable court, while laws restricting abortion and promoting the rights of religious organizations...

After voting to proceed to a bill that didn’t exist earlier this week, the Senate has finally produced text of the continuing resolution, a short-term government spending bill. The bill, written behind closed doors by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, was brought to the floor late Thursday afternoon, and for the majority of Senate Republicans, represented their first opportunity to see the text. According to McConnell, senators will have four days (two of them on a weekend) to review the bill before having to cast their votes next week. As far as conservative priorities go, the bill is a failure....

On Tuesday night, the Senate voted to proceed to the continuing resolution, a bill that will allegedly fund the government until Dec. 9. The only problem is that there isn’t actually a bill yet. There is no text. There is no agreement between Democrats and Republicans on what the bill will fund—Planned Parenthood, the Export-Import Bank, control of the internet—all of it remains a mystery. Yet the Senate voted 89-7 to proceed to this nonexistent bill. The Senate operates under complex parliamentary rules that require a series of votes in order to “proceed to” or “get onto” a bill. The...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been darkly warning about giving up U.S. oversight of internet names as of Oct. 1 – and he has been getting growing support for congressional action, even from Donald Trump. But on Thursday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., laid out a “clean CR,” a blueprint for a continuing resolution to fund the government from Oct. 1 through Dec. 9. It does not include a provision to delay the transfer. “There have been broad requests for a clean continuing resolution,” said McConnell on the Senate floor. “So that’s what I’ve just offered. It’s the result...

July 06, 2016, 03:50 pm Reid: ‘Time to move on' from Clinton email scandal By Jordain Carney Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday slammed Republicans for focusing their fire on the FBI for not recommending charges against Hillary Clinton. "It's over. It's time to move on," Reid said. "Republican attempts to continue their political hit job are just that, they're political." Reid's remarks are the first time he's weighed in on the Clinton email scandal since FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday morning that he would recommend no charges for Clinton's use of a private email server while...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has reservations about the candidate at the top the 2016 Republican ticket: Donald Trump. McConnell made headlines earlier this week for declining to say whether Trump is qualified for the presidency. But in an interview with Washington, D.C. bureau reporter Geoff Bennett, McConnell said Trump is not yet a credible presidential candidate. McConnell: "Trump clearly needs to change, in my opinion, to win the general election. What I’ve said to him both publicly and privately: 'You’re a great entertainer. You turn on audiences. You’re good before a crowd. You have a lot of...

What a sad egotistical man… Republican leader Mitch McConnell refused to say whether or not he thinks Donald Trump is qualified to be president during his interview on ABC Sunday morning. “I’ll leave that to the American people to decide.” “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos, a Hillary lackey, then pointed out 64% of Americans don’t think Trump is qualified. Hillary Clinton, a serial liar, is under investigation by the FBI and was instrumental in the calamity we see today in the Middle East – but McConnell thinks Trump is not qualified? Seriously?

WSB radio announced that Mitch McConnell is expected to change his position on gun control this afternoon after his meeting with the FBI Director. This is all they stated and it was via McConnell's office. He is expected to remove his blocking of legislation. Time to make our objections known to this RINO.... Nothing on their website yet per this post but other websites at link are reporting....

A flyer circulated before Donald Trump’s Friday rally in Richmond, Virginia, called for violence and declared “passive resistance … has no effect on heartless racists.” Under a headline of “Self-Defense,” the flyer reads: We fully support your right to self-defense, we do not expect you to take a beating by Trump goons in order to “look good.” Your safety is important, protect yourself. Fascism wants us to peacefully resist while it steamrolls us. We take our inspiration from the workers of Spain who rose up by the millions to fight fascism when it came to their country. Passive resistance works...

Extra, Extra! Republican Paul Ryan is an advocate for political correctness! That’s right. In commenting about Trump’s remarks concerning Judge Curiel, Ryan told George Stephanopoulos: “That comment is beyond the pale. That’s not political correctness. Suggesting that a person can’t do their job because of their race or ethnicity… that’s not a politically incorrect thing to do; that’s just a wrong thing to say.” For decades, conservatives and other decent, law-abiding Americans, have labored under the yoke of political correctness. They have been publicly shunned, lost jobs, had careers ruined, and been kicked out of universities. Why? Simply for exercising...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed again Friday that the Senate will not confirm President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, this year. “Let me say this once more, and let me say it clearly: Barack Obama will not get a Supreme Court Justice in the 11th hour of his presidency on the way out the door,” McConnell said to loud applause at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. …

No one exposes the real political danger behind hidden ideological alignments as good as Donald Trump. The beating of the Trump supporters in San Jose last night, and the responses, highlight a case in point. What do Nikki Haley, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, and Brad Thor have in common? They are all on the same page blaming Donald Trump for not accepting the physical beatings that come with expressions of free speech and challenging the orthodoxy of their political views. Each of these voices in their own way telling Trump, and by extension his supporters,...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell takes pride in his reputation as a great compromiser. But the Republican leader won’t concede on one point: He refuses to let conservatives fight the White House for lower spending levels. McConnell, R-Ky., outlined his political roadmap for government spending on Tuesday, sketching out the routes he sees available: an omnibus package, individual appropriations bills, or a government shutdown.