McConnell invoked the " nuclear option" to eliminate the 60-vote requirement to end a filibuster for Supreme Court nominations, after his predecessor Harry Reid had previously eliminated the filibuster for all other presidential nominations Trump subsequently won confirmation battles on Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. McConnell worked to withhold Republican support for major presidential initiatives during the Obama administration, having made frequent use of the filibuster, and blocked many of President Obama's judicial nominees, including Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.ĭuring the Trump administration, the Senate Republican majority under his leadership passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act in 2018, the First Step Act, the Great American Outdoors Act, and confirmed a record number of federal appeals court judges during a president's first two years. FEC that partially overturned the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold) in 2010. He led opposition to stricter campaign finance laws, culminating in the U.S. McConnell holds conservative political positions, although he was known as a pragmatist and a moderate Republican early in his political career. In November 2006 he was elected Senate minority leader, the post he held until Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015. He was elected Majority Whip to Bill Frist in the 108th Congress and re-elected to the post in 2004. During the 19 election cycles, he was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Senate in 1984 and is the second Kentuckian to serve as a party leader in the Senate. McConnell first served as a Deputy United States Assistant Attorney General under President Gerald Ford from 1974 until 1975 and went on to serve as Jefferson County Judge/Executive from 1977 until 1984 in his home state of Kentucky. McConnell has been the leader of the Senate Republican Conference since 2007 and is the longest serving Senate party leader in US history. He previously served as minority leader from 2007 to 2015, majority leader from 2015 to 2021 and was majority whip from 2003 to 2007. The 48-year-old judge's confirmation solidifies the court's conservative majority, potentially shaping the future of abortion rights and health care law for generations.Addison Mitchell McConnell III ( / m ə ˈ k ɒ n ə l/ mə- KON-əl born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney who has been serving as Senate Minority Leader since 2021 and the senior United States senator from Kentucky since 1985. "While I oppose the process that led us to this point, I do not hold it against her, as an individual who has navigated the gauntlet with grace, skill and humility," she said.Ĭollins faces a tough reelection battle and said after Ginsburg's death in September that whoever wins the presidential election should fill the Supreme Court vacancy. On Saturday, Murkowski previewed her intentions, saying she planned to vote against moving the nomination forward procedurally but would vote to confirm Barrett on Monday. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The only Republicans who voted against the cloture motion on Sunday were Sens. As I said before, no tit-for-tat convoluted, distorted version of history will wipe away the stain that will exist forever with this Republican majority and with this Republican leader."īarrett's nomination cleared a procedural hurdle Sunday afternoon when the Senate voted to end debate on the nomination, days after Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee boycotted a vote to advance Barrett's nomination. "My colleagues, there is no escaping this glaring hypocrisy. that we should wait until after the presidential election because the American people deserved a voice in the selection of their next justice," he said on Sunday. "Nearly every Republican in this chamber led by the majority leader four years ago refused to even consider the Supreme Court nomination of a Democratic president on the grounds. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., labeled the nomination process a "cynical power grab." Elections 5 Things To Watch In The Final Week Of The 2020 Presidential Campaignĭemocrats railed against the advancement of Barrett's nomination so close to Election Day, after the Republican-led Senate in 2016 refused to hold hearings for then-President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, nearly eight months before that year's election.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |