Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell defended himself in an interview with Politico after several of his Republican colleagues have reportedly questioned his leadership in recent days.
McConnell has been catching heat for the bipartisan border deal that a small group of Senate Republicans and Democrats negotiated behind closed doors and unveiled Sunday, drawing ire from other members of the caucus who slammed the bill as far too weak to address the ongoing crisis at the southern border.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has openly called for McConnell to step aside after the details of the border deal became public.
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Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee has also suggested that new leadership may be needed in the wake of the border negotiations, according to Politico.
“I’ve had a small group of persistent critics the whole time I’ve been in this job. They had their shot,” McConnell told Politico, referencing Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s 2022 challenge to his leadership. “The reason we’ve been talking about the border is because they wanted to, the persistent critics. You can’t pass a bill without dealing with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate.”
McConnell apparently did not whip votes to support or oppose the bill, instead focusing on the particular politics of the legislation, according to Politico. McConnell said on Tuesday that the legislation has “no real chance” of becoming law.
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“Leader McConnell completely blew this,” Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told Politico regarding the border deal.
McConnell has frozen up in public on two occasions in the last twelve months, raising questions about his health given his advanced age.
Those in the caucus may be sniping at McConnell because they sense a political opportunity, or because they are looking to settle old scores with McConnell, one anonymous Republican Senator told Politico, which granted the lawmaker anonymity in order to discuss the dynamics freely.
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