Free Republic

As the Republican Party appears poised to regain a Senate majority in Tuesday’s midterm elections, prior speculation of a challenge to Mitch McConnell’s leadership has only increased as the final hours count down. As reported by The Hill, Florida Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) has long hinted at the possibility that he might challenge McConnell for the position of Senate Majority Leader. On Sunday, Scott again refused to rule out the option of running against McConnell after NBC’s Chuck Todd asked him about such a showdown on “Meet the Press.” When Todd asked if Scott would consider running for Senate Majority...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday introduced a short bill that would extend key expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, a sign this extension could happen without any substantive talk about whether and how to reform these provisions. The bill from McConnell and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) would extend sections of the PATRIOT Act through 2020 that allow access to business records and roving surveillance. The business records provision is found in the controversial Section 215 of the bill, which has been used to justify access to phone records.

A month into the new Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) may still be getting used to life in the majority. Upon welcoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) back on the Senate floor after a January exercising accident, McConnell reverted to an old habit of referring to his Democratic counterpart as the "majority leader." "Let me say first, I want to welcome back our colleague, the majority leader. He's had a challenging month, and we're happy to see him back here in the Senate and wish him well in his recovery, which looks as if it's coming along...