Senate Democrats Hand Mitch McConnell Another Defeat By Blocking Human Trafficking Bill

Senate Democrats have handed Mitch McConnell another defeat, as they refused to yield to his threats by blocking a human trafficking bill that contains poison bill abortion language.

Republicans came up five votes short of the number needed to advance the bill. The final vote was 55-43.

Before the vote Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “In an hour or so, the Senate will vote to end debate on the human trafficking and child pornography legislation. That vote is going to fail. I know that. The Majority Leader knows that. And it is going to fail because Republicans have chosen to manufacture a political fight that has nothing to do with human trafficking. Abortion legislation has no place in a human trafficking bill.”

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Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) complained that President Obama needs to make Senate Democrats support the bill, ” The White House needs to get involved here too. So far, the White House has barely lifted a finger to help us pass this legislation. That needs to change. I think the White House should do this because it’s the right thing to do. But if that’s not enough, they should also consider the consequences of Democrats making a historic mistake.”

The mistake was made by McConnell and his Republicans who thought that they could slide unrelated anti-abortion language into a human trafficking bill. Senate Republicans are getting desperate for a win. They can’t pass their own legislation. They refuse to cooperate with Democrats to pick up the six votes that they need on a variety of bills. McConnell has resorted to trying sneak pieces of their agenda into unrelated legislation.

The reality of the Senate is that Democrats are firmly in control. Nothing is moving forward without their support. If Mitch McConnell has any interest in passing legislation, he needs to change his approach to start meeting Democrats in the middle.

Sen. McConnell’s (R-KY) time has Majority Leader has been a lesson in incompetence. The nomination of Loretta Lynch will eventually come up for a vote. The Majority Leader thought that he could break Senate Democrats by holding the Lynch nomination hostage, but Democrats have remained solidly unified.

With 2016 right around the corner, the clock is ticking on Mitch McConnell’s failed Senate leadership.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association