Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is considering extending the Senate workweek to give red state Democrats less time to campaign.
The Washington Examiner reported:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could seek to hold the Senate in session longer each week to keep vulnerable incumbent Democrats off the campaign trail.
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“McConnell wants to increase the days the Senate is open for business to keep†Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri “tied up from campaigning,†a Republican donor told the Washington Examiner, relaying what Short communicated.
McConnell’s plan is underhanded and sneaky, but it won’t work
Mitch McConnell isn’t going to be able to stop the blue wave by making Senate Democrats work longer weeks. Plus, does anyone believe that Republicans who are up for reelection want to work longer weeks?
This is an act of total desperation. Voters aren’t going to throw Manchin, McCaskill, Heitkamp, or Nelson out of office because they were in D.C. doing their jobs. Republicans have a slate of unpopular candidates and a president who is an anchor around their necks. The GOP has no ideas to offer voters, so all that McConnell can think to do is keep Democrats off the campaign trail and hope that the blue wave goes away.
Candidates like Manchin, McCaskill, and in a better position to win reelection than anyone could have ever imagined after the 2016 election.
Republicans have fallen so far in less than two years under Trump, Ryan, and McConnell that they have gone from thinking that they could win enough seats in 2018 to get to a 60 vote majority to hanging on to their two-vote majority by the skin of their teeth.
The blue wave is coming, and there aren’t enough Mitch McConnell dirty tricks in the world to stop it.
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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
