Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has called himself the “Grim Reaper” standing at the doorway between the House of Representatives and the Senate floor. In other words, he kills all the legislation the House sends. Why would he do this?
The senator and Donald Trump have been working in tandem. If the president indicated he would not sign a bill, McConnell did not let it through the door to the Senate. The senator’s primary goal has been to fill the courts with conservative judges. Thus far, that was all he has accomplished. He held President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee off along with many other appointments. In Trump’s two and a half years, he has installed as many judges as Obama did in both of his terms.
This concrete block to the Democrats’ and Republicans’ legislation has been frustrating, but it appears lawmakers have found a crack in the wall. Republicans for the Rule of Law has released a $400,000 ad campaign, including digital ads, about an election security bill.
McConnell has come down against election legislation over and over. He said:
‘Trojan horse for partisan wish-list items that would not actually make our elections safer.’
The conservative group targeted McConnell and was intended to pressure him to put election security legislations up for a Senate vote. The ads aired in the senator’s home state and four additional Republican senator’s home states.
The ads hit Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and James Lankford R-OK) to motivate them to move McConnell to a vote. The 60-second spot said:
‘Don’t let Mitch McConnell stand in your way.’
Other 30-second ads have been set up to air on Fox & Friends, Fox News Sunday, and NBC’s Meet the Press. These ads follow the senators’ support for election security legislation.
Former editor of the Weekly Standard and member of the Republicans for the Rule of Law, too, Bill Kristol said the issue should get a fair hearing on the Senate floor:
‘How do you defend not letting these bills come to the floor for debate and discussion?What’s the rationale for literally doing nothing?’
The DETER Act is bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Senators Rubio and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). It would sanction Russia’s defense, energy, and banking industries should the Russians attack the U.S. elections again.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe’s host Joe Scarborough blew up at McConnell on the air. He was frustrated by the senator’s apparent lack of patriotism. The phrase “Moscow Mitch” came out of Scarborough’s speech and went viral. Little did the early morning show host know, McConnell had blocked legislation to correct Russia’s election attacks. Then, the news came out that a Russian oligarch very close to Russia President Vladimir Putin was building a plant in Kentucky.
The DETER Act also puts into law that the White House must give Congress their strategy to halt interference in America’s voting process by: China, Iran, North Korea and “any other foreign state of significant concern.”
Senator Graham co-sponsored a second election-related bill. It would focus on political and campaign ads on the web. The bill said the people behind the ads must disclose who paid for them.
Legal advisor and spokesperson for Republicans for the Rule of Law Chris Truax said:
‘McConnell and all Republican Senators have no greater responsibility than protecting our elections from foreign enemies like Russia and Iran.’
The featured ad is a screenshot via YouTube.
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