Home United States USA — Financial Where's Mitch? McConnell keeping his head down during government shutdown

Where's Mitch? McConnell keeping his head down during government shutdown

311
0
SHARE

Nancy Morrison is dipping into her savings account to buy food and pay for basic household bills as negotiations to end the government shutdown remain at a…
Nancy Morrison is dipping into her savings account to buy food and pay for basic household bills as negotiations to end the government shutdown remain at a standstill.
The communications, radar and automation technician at Louisville International Airport has worked three weeks without a paycheck, along with roughly 800,000 other federal workers who aren’t being paid.
Morrison, of Louisville, has tried repeatedly to contact a man who she believes could help re-open the government: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
But the U. S. Air Force veteran says it’s nearly impossible to get through to anyone at his offices. She can’t leave a message with anyone in his Washington, D. C. office, and his local office rings until the line hangs up.
“For me personally, it’s a joke that we can’t get a hold of him because he is our senator, and he’s holding the reins, too, of the Senate vote,” Morrison said.
Morrison is asking a question echoed by many political leaders in Washington, and experts around the county as the shutdown hits day 27: Where’s Mitch McConnell?
The question became a trending topic on Twitter thanks to U. S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, who joined a handful of House Democrats scouring the halls of Congress with news cameras asking “Where’s Mitch?” She and a group hand-delivered a letter to McConnell’s office, demanding a vote to reopen the government.
“He’s not in the cloak room. He’s not in the Capitol. He’s not in the Russel building. He’s not on the floor of the Senate,” Ocasio-Cortez said on social media. “And 800,000 people still don’t have their paychecks – so #WheresMitch?”
McConnell was praised by Republicans and Democrats during President Barack Obama’s tenure for cutting deals to escape gridlock. But observers have noted the Kentucky Republican, who once relished that deal-maker role, is keeping his head down during this partial – yet historically long – shutdown.
Here’s how McConnell explained it to the Courier Journal: In those previous impasses or shutdowns, there was a Democratic White House that took the lead. Obama needed GOP votes that, McConnell said, as minority leader, he was able to deliver as a key negotiator.
More: Security shows signs of strain as impasse over wall stretches into its fourth week
More: Furloughed workers to get back pay once government shutdown is over
The nearly monthlong shutdown was triggered by Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U. S.-Mexico border. Democrats prefer to invest more heavily in ports of entry. The Democratic-led House of Representatives passed a spending bill Jan. 3 that includes $8 million to hire 328 new Customs officers and $225 million to purchase equipment used to screen trucks and vehicles for contraband.
The way McConnell sees it, under President Donald Trump,Democrats Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, and Chuck Schumer, his Senate counterpart, should be the ones delivering a deal.

Continue reading...