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☆ Senate MAGA mutineers incensed their red wave never came work on new ways to punish Mitch McConnell
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Senate Republicans recently tried and failed to strip Mitch McConnell of his leadership post. Ted Cruz is among the conservatives determined to "stand up and fight" against business as usual. He called any such compromise "indefensible," and urged others to also dig in their heels so House Republicans have a better negotiating position next year once their narrow majority takes effect. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to fend off House conservatives determined to deny him his dream of becoming speaker, has also been pushing to quash any lame duck breakthroughs. "Any Republican that's out there trying to work with them is wrong," McCarthy recently said on Fox News.

The win ends a nearly two-year power sharing agreement, giving Democrats true majority rule. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona's viselike grip on their party's priorities has loosened a bit, thanks to Georgia. Republicans will no longer be able to bottle up Biden administration nominees in committee, and select Democratic committee chairs will again be able to issue subpoenas. "Joe Manchin is a good person; he really is," Biden said Friday at a reception for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York speaks at a press conference at the Capitol on August 5, 2022.

☆ Hakeem Jeffries dismisses Mitch McConnell calling him an 'election denier' over his criticism of Trump: 'That didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Jeffries dismissed Sen. McConnell calling him an "election denier" over his criticism of Trump. Last week, McConnell remarked that Jeffries "baselessly said the 2016 election was 'illegitimate.'" "He'll do what he does, and I want to stay focused on fighting for the people," Jeffries told CNN. "For example, the newly-elected incoming leader of the House Democrats is a past election denier who baselessly said the 2016 election was 'illegitimate' and suggested that we had a 'fake' president. I supported the certification of Donald Trump's election," he continued to say.

☆ Florida Sen. Rick Scott says Republicans should 'stop compromising' with Democrats, arguing that Senate GOP leaders 'routinely cave in' to Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Rick Scott said GOP leaders had become too accommodating to Democratic leaders in Washington. The Florida lawmaker spoke this weekend before the Jewish Republican Coalition in Las Vegas. "Republican leaders in the Senate routinely cave in and allow Schumer and Biden to win," he said. A new era where Republicans actually give the voters a positive reason for voting for them is coming," he continued to say. "I ran for leader because Republican leaders in the Senate routinely cave in and allow Schumer and Biden to win.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is eyeing the speaker's job after his party captured the majority, was nowhere to be seen. Asked why he skipped her speech, McCarthy said: “I had meetings. Among the few Republicans in the chamber were Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.“She’s got quite a legacy, that’s for sure," he said afterward. A few hours after the speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had not yet commented. Pelosi ended her speech with an appeal to patriotism and the perseverance of American democracy.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., meets with reporters Wednesday after he fended off a challenge by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and was re-elected as Republican leader. And we turned off a lot of these centrist voters," McConnell said Wednesday. “Much criticism is being placed on the fact that the Republican Party should have done better. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks after he was nominated to be House speaker on Tuesday. “What I hope we learned from this is you can’t win the general election merely because of your base vote.

Sen. Linsey Graham, a Trump ally, told reporters he voted "for change." "I welcome the contest," McConnell told reporters after Scott announced his bid. "I voted for change," he told reporters. Earlier this month during an interview with Fox News host Martha McCallum, Scott denied rumors spread by Trump that Scott "hates" McConnell. So we acquainted our members with the tools they have," McConnell told reporters at the US Capitol, adding, "I think that'll be used more often.

WASHINGTON — House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday easily defeated conservative Rep. Andy Biggs to win the GOP nomination for speaker of the House. The Arizona Republican and former leader of the far-right, Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus did not announce that he would challenge McCarthy until Monday night. "Minority Leader McCarthy does not have the votes needed to become the next Speaker of the House and his speakership should not be a foregone conclusion," Biggs said in a statement. Former President Donald Trump, who is expected to announce a 2024 presidential bid later Tuesday, has endorsed his longtime ally, McCarthy, for speaker. So has Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Freedom Caucus member who is enormously popular among grassroots conservatives.

“Personalities come and go,” said Dave Ball, the GOP chair in Pennsylvania’s Washington County, who has supported and defended Trump. Trump is preparing to do just that, with a Tuesday announcement expected at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. In Illinois, Republicans had threatened to take two state Supreme Court seats and flip state Senate and House seats. In Pennsylvania, GOP leaders had hoped to at least hold on to the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey. Trump lost the state by narrow margins in 2016 and 2020.

☆ Mitch McConnell says he 'never predicted a red wave' and that independent and moderate Republican voters were 'frightened' by GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The GOP leader said he "never predicted a red wave" and "never saw that in any of our polling." He also said that moderate and independent voters were "frightened" by some GOP figures. He also said he never predicted a blow-out victory for Republicans, based on polling that he saw in recent months. "And it frightened independent and moderate Republican voters." McConnell has balked at releasing an affirmative Republican agenda, believing it's best to make midterm elections a referendum on the party in power.

☆ Republicans in disarray as McConnell faces a leadership challenge, McCarthy scrounges for votes to become speaker, and Trump seeks to stake his claim for 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( John L. Dorman | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Republicans last week faltered in producing the red wave election they had sought for over a year. McConnell now faces a leadership challenge, while McCarthy is looking for votes to lead the House. And on Tuesday, Scott informed colleagues that he would challenge McConnell, who since leading the Senate GOP caucus in 2007 has retained strong support within the party. The House Republican Conference on Tuesday voted 188-31 in favor of McCarthy leading the caucus over conservative challenger Andy Biggs of Arizona, but the California lawmaker will need 218 votes to win the Speaker's gavel next year. Republicans, already trying to navigate the new landscape on Capitol Hill, will have a lot to figure out as the 2024 presidential election looms.

More than 60 prominent conservatives, including former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and activist Ginni Thomas, are calling on House and Senate GOP leadership elections to be delayed until after the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff. The open letter to GOP lawmakers released Monday comes just a day before House Republicans are set to hold their closed-door election to pick their leaders for the new Congress. Senate Republicans plan to hold their own internal elections on Wednesday. There should be no rushed leadership elections,” the conservative group wrote in their letter. “Conservative Members of the House and Senate have called for the leadership elections to be delayed.

☆ Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who led the campaign arm to elect GOP senators, called the 2022 midterms a 'complete disappointment'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Rick Scott on Friday called the 2022 midterm results a "complete disappointment" for the GOP. Scott said GOP'ers didn't offer a positive vision to counteract their critiques of President Biden. The Florida lawmaker told Fox News host Sean Hannity that GOP voters simply did not turn out in sufficient numbers on Election Day to counteract Democratic voters across the country. Election Day ... our voters didn't show up. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Lee of Utah — issued a letter this week asking for colleagues to delay a Senate GOP leadership vote on Wednesday.

☆ Sen. Mitch McConnell Signals Support for Electoral Count Act Changes
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered qualified support for a Senate bill that would overhaul a 19th-century law that governs the way Congress counts and ratifies presidential elector votes, giving the bipartisan effort a boost. The House passed its own version last week, 229-203. Both measures are a response to efforts by former President Donald Trump and his supporters to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

☆ McConnell Signals Support for Electoral Count Act Changes
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sen. Mitch McConnell says the chaos of January of last year convinced him of the need to update the electoral law. WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered qualified support for a Senate bill that would overhaul a 19th-century law that governs the way Congress counts and ratifies presidential elector votes, giving the bipartisan effort a boost. The House passed its own version last week, 229-203. Both measures are a response to efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

☆ Mitch McConnell calls Kyrsten Sinema the 'most effective first-term senator' he's seen and praises her defense of the filibuster
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Bryan Metzger | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mitch McConnell praised Kyrsten Sinema in remarks before her speech at the University of Louisville. He said she's "the most effective first-term senator I've seen in my time in the Senate." McConnell also celebrated Sinema for her opposition to ending the filibuster. "I've only known Kyrsten for four years, but she is, in my view — and I've told her this — the most effective first-term senator I've seen in my time in the Senate," said McConnell. "It took one hell of a lot of guts for Kyrsten Sinema to stand up and say, 'I'm not gonna break the institution in order to achieve a short term goal.'"

☆ Majority of American adults think Trump and Biden are both unfit to serve in public office: poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Most American adults think Trump and Biden aren't fit to serve in public office right now, a new Insider/Morning Consult poll revealed. Both Republicans and Democrats surveyed said some members of their own party were unfit to serve. The survey, conducted in early September, revealed that nearly six in 10 American adults felt that Biden was either "somewhat unfit" or "very unfit" to serve in public office right now. Either Biden or Trump would occupy the White House well into their 80s if elected for a second term. About half of them said that McConnell was either "somewhat unfit" or "very unfit" to serve in public office right now.

☆ Senate Republicans seek special counsel authority for prosecutor in Hunter Biden criminal probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Hunter Biden looks on during the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 18, 2022. More than 30 Senate Republicans asked Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday to give the federal prosecutor who has been investigating Hunter Biden for several years "special counsel protections and authorities." Giving U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss special counsel authority would also "provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is free from political influence," the letter argued. Hunter Biden disclosed the existence of the criminal probe in late 2020, shortly after his father was elected president. Hunter Biden has not been charged with any of those crimes, and it is not clear if he will ever be charged.

☆ 'Barrett is like Jesus' for evangelical voters: Why confirming a new Supreme Court justice before the election mattered more to Republicans than another coronavirus stimulus
▼ + stars: | 2020-10-28 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It pales in comparison to getting the Supreme Court justice," an expert told Insider. The federal judge — now a newly minted Supreme Court Justice — is the first nominee in US history to be confirmed this close to an Election Day. McConnell's 'leave no vacancy behind' mindset about the courtsAnd the timing couldn't have been more ideal for the party, experts told Insider. In total, the top Republican has overseen 220 confirmations, including three Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court offers them a shortcut "to enforce these kinds of values that they're really concerned about."

☆ Meet the GOP's biggest Hollywood donors
▼ + stars: | 2020-08-26 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

America First Action, the most notable super PAC backing President Donald Trump, has directly criticized Hollywood. Donors from Hollywood-area ZIP codes also rank among the most generous donors to key Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida. 3 donor ZIP code in the nation, trailing only ZIP codes in Houston and Palm Beach, Florida, which is home to his Mar-a-Lago Club resort. Bill Pugliano/Getty ImagesTrump continues to profit from HollywoodIn messages to supporters this year, Trump has decried "liberal HOLLYWOOD donors" and "MEGA HOLLYWOOD DONORS," while his son Donald Trump Jr. has castigated the "Hollywood Elite." As president, Trump's pension earned him more than $84,000 in 2017, about $91,000 in 2018, and about $78,000 in 2019, his personal financial disclosures showed.

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