McConnell breaks with Trump, will not advance Democratic stimulus in the Senate.

[ꙮ]

There was seemingly a breakthrough in the stimulus negotiations earlier today, with the White House allowing a compromise on some of the major differences between the Democratic and White House proposals.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/15/politics/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-stimulus-coronavirus/index.html

McConnell is now saying that the Senate will not even consider a stimulus in that price range (1.8-2.4 trillion dollars), instead moving forward with the 0.5 trillion dollar stimulus they proposed previously.

What is McConnell's angle? Why is he driving a wedge between himself and the President, especially this close to the election? It seems like there's no real reason to do this. I also can't see any way this doesn't hurt the Republicans. If the news story becomes "Republican Senate blocks Trump-Pelosi Stimulus" McConnell is basically ceding the election to the Democrats.

[Bootes Void]

this will hurt senate republicans as they can be painted as obstructionist. that being said, i think mcconnell thinks trump will lose and wants to make things as bad as possible for president biden

[redjohn]

this will hurt senate republicans as they can be painted as obstructionist. that being said, i think mcconnell thinks trump will lose and wants to make things as bad as possible for president biden

This worries me in that regard. Lots of signs have pointed to McConnell expecting Biden to win, and it just proves what we already know: with split government, a Biden Presidency will accomplish very little in Congress

[Alben Barkley]

this will hurt senate republicans as they can be painted as obstructionist. that being said, i think mcconnell thinks trump will lose and wants to make things as bad as possible for president biden

This worries me in that regard. Lots of signs have pointed to McConnell expecting Biden to win, and it just proves what we already know: with split government, a Biden Presidency will accomplish very little in Congress

Thing is though, moves like this increase the chances the GOP loses its senate majority and thus decreases the chances of split government next year. Now, Biden and the Democratic senate can swoop in and be the heroes passing the stimulus bill that provides relief to millions of Americans.

So that's why I'm a little confused as to McConnell's motives here. He is actually hurting his own chance of remaining Majority Leader more than anything.

[President Johnson]

Cocaine Mitch is getting in the obstruction mode before it even begins.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

It makes sense if you assume that the GOP has written off the possibility of a second Trump term and wants to get to work sabotaging President Biden by doing as much damage to the United States as they possibly can while they still control the Senate.

[redjohn]

this will hurt senate republicans as they can be painted as obstructionist. that being said, i think mcconnell thinks trump will lose and wants to make things as bad as possible for president biden

This worries me in that regard. Lots of signs have pointed to McConnell expecting Biden to win, and it just proves what we already know: with split government, a Biden Presidency will accomplish very little in Congress

Thing is though, moves like this increase the chances the GOP loses its senate majority and thus decreases the chances of split government next year. Now, Biden and the Democratic senate can swoop in and be the heroes passing the stimulus bill that provides relief to millions of Americans.

So that's why I'm a little confused as to McConnell's motives here. He is actually hurting his own chance of remaining Majority Leader more than anything.

It definitely hurts Republicans' chances in the Senate, but they do have a much better chance at keeping the Senate than Trump winning re-election. If Biden is President next year and the GOP holds the Senate, I wonder if they ever let him confirm a SCOTUS justice.

[GP270watch]

 It has been obvious to anybody paying attention that Mitch has been the roadblock on stimulus for 6 months already. The media has given him and Senate Republicans a pass because they're always pushing fake fairness.

[Del Tachi]

I think this is McConnell's angle:  above all, confirm Barrett before Nov. 3 because (if Trump loses) a lame duck confirmation gets trickier and the risks of Democratic retaliation go up.  Barrett's confirmation will be voted on by the judiciary committee on October 22, and McConnell says he wants to bring it to the floor on the 23rd.  However, without Democratic support the earliest Barrett could be confirmed by the full Senate is October 26 (50 senators have to vote to invoke cloture on SCOTUS nominations - which limits debate to 30 hours).   

Now, if the House sends McConnell a Trump-Pelosi stimulus compromise they'll be immense pressure on him to take action on it before confirming Barrett.  Senate Democrats could leverage his inaction on stimulus to delay Barrett's confirmation, and a few Senate Republicans may feel the pressure to take action "for America's families" before confirming Barrett.  Passing a $500 billion stimulus next week staves-off this pressure, because the Senate GOP can hide behind the fact they've already acted when/if a bigger stimulus gets thrown at them from the House.

A big beautiful stimulus can always be done in the lame duck

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I think this is McConnell's angle:  above all, confirm Barrett before Nov. 3 because (if Trump loses) a lame duck confirmation gets trickier and the risks of Democratic retaliation go up.  Barrett's confirmation will be voted on by the judiciary committee on October 22, and McConnell says he wants to bring it to the floor on the 23rd.  However, without Democratic support the earliest Barrett could be confirmed by the full Senate is October 26 (50 senators have to vote to invoke cloture on SCOTUS nominations - which limits debate to 30 hours).   

Now, if the House sends McConnell a Trump-Pelosi stimulus compromise they'll be immense pressure on him to take action on it before confirming Barrett.  Senate Democrats could leverage his inaction on stimulus to delay Barrett's confirmation, and a few Senate Republicans may feel the pressure to take action "for America's families" before confirming Barrett.  Passing a $500 billion stimulus next week staves-off this pressure, because the Senate GOP can hide behind the fact they've already acted when/if a bigger stimulus gets thrown at them from the House.

A big beautiful stimulus can always be done in the lame duck

Senators don't get the electoral benefit if it happens in the lame duck.

I don't see why they wouldn't be able to work on both at the same time.  If the House sends them a bill right away could get it passed before the 26th?   

If McConnell has a bunch of Senators who don't support a big stimulus, fine, they don't have to go along with it. Let it pass with mostly Democratic votes.  But he needs to look out for his Senators who are in tight races and let them vote for it.  A Trillion $ more than you want to spend is still small compared to what the Democrats will pass if they win the Senate.

[Bootes Void]

McConnell isn't a guy who does things in good fath. He said that in 2010 that his number one priority was to make Obama a one term president. He also advised Bush to pull troops out of Iraq before the 2006 midterms to help their reelection chances despite publicly supporting the war.

Always question their intentions

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Meh.  He's making sure ACB gets confirmed, so that's good enough for now.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

this will hurt senate republicans as they can be painted as obstructionist. that being said, i think mcconnell thinks trump will lose and wants to make things as bad as possible for president biden

This worries me in that regard. Lots of signs have pointed to McConnell expecting Biden to win, and it just proves what we already know: with split government, a Biden Presidency will accomplish very little in Congress

Thing is though, moves like this increase the chances the GOP loses its senate majority and thus decreases the chances of split government next year. Now, Biden and the Democratic senate can swoop in and be the heroes passing the stimulus bill that provides relief to millions of Americans.

So that's why I'm a little confused as to McConnell's motives here. He is actually hurting his own chance of remaining Majority Leader more than anything.

McConnell is to some extent reflecting the mindset of Senate Rs with this. As North Carolina Yankee has pointed out:

I think everyone should just completely ignore Trump and anything he does going forward.  He's likely to lose in 24 days.

He has no leverage for that reason. Senators would be inclined to curry favor with a President likely to be reelected, but at this point they are basically operating as if it is a foregone conclusion that he will lose. They are also predicting that the issues defining the period afterwards will be dominated by a shift towards concern for the deficit.

That is also a factor that needs to be considered here. For those who are retiring it is about principle, but those who have to face the potential of the now standard base revolt that occurs in midterm of party out of power they are trying to avoid being deemed a big spender establishment type and thus get voted out by the next wave of revolutionaries pressed on to be the knifes at the backs of the incumbents to never waver, lest they be eliminated next, by the same said pressure groups.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

They don't have to agree on anything until the CR which is due in December and would Pelosi want to deny checks during Xmas

[politicallefty]

Okay, this is annoying and it will hurt a lot of people. That's typical of the Republican Party. Let's wait until Democrats have the trifecta on January 20th and pass a $4-5 trillion stimulus package. We can always consider options like sending all Americans below a certain income level a monthly benefit. Some on the left have proposed $2000/month, but even $1000/month would be massively beneficial to many Americans.

[Suburbia]

Thank the KY and TX Democrats for running duds against Mitch and Cornyn. MO and SD Democrats should target Blunt and Thune

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

D's aren't passing UBI unless they have 60 votes but the Airlines are in devesting straights and keep putting it off is not very smart. Pelosi said she will make it retroactive whenever it is passed