Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is no longer a member of the GOP leadership in the U.S. Senate – for the first time since 2003. Punchbowl News asked on Friday if this means that McConnell is “finally a free agent?” and speculated as to whether or not the Kentucky senator would try and scuttle some of President-elect Donald Trump’s more shocking cabinet picks.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is also out of senate leadership having lost the race to replace McConnell, told Punchbowl, “He and I both agree we’ve been liberated.”
“But I know how strongly [McConnell] feels about foreign policy and national security matters. I agree with him on that,” Cornyn said when asked about McConnell’s vow to continue to vocally oppose Trump’s more isolationist rhetoric on foreign policy. Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio and Max Cohen reported:
There’s a belief that if McConnell opposes [Tulsi] Gabbard’s nomination, it could provide cover to other Senate Republicans who align with his foreign policy views. With a 53-47 margin, Trump can only afford to lose three Republican votes, assuming there’s full attendance.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a close ally of McConnell who has already come out against Matt Gaetz for AG, told Punchbowl, “I’m sure he won’t try to second-guess the new leader or undermine Sen. Thune in any way. But it’s just natural that he will have well-developed ideas and strategies on a host of issues and that members want to hear that.”
However, the report noted that may not be the end of the story. “The flip side of this is that McConnell could actually be helping Thune. By taking arrows for tanking a nomination or other measure, McConnell would take the pressure off Thune and the rest of the GOP leadership, insulating them from Trump’s wrath,” explained Punchbowl.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) also weighed in saying, “I don’t know that [McConnell] wants to play that role. But if he does, he could do it better than anybody. He knows both our process and he knows the politics of it very, very well. Just by virtue of his influence, which is earned by experience, not by title, he will always have a bit of a sage role.”
McConnell endorsed Trump’s 2024 run for president after he secured the GOP nomination despite Trump publicly attacking McConnell for years, including launching a racist attack against his wife Elaine Chao – who served in Trump’s first cabinet. At a recent rally, Trump even went so far as to roast McConnell for eventually kissing the ring, gloating, “Can you believe he endorsed me? Boy, that must have been a painful day in his life.”
McConnell was quoted in a new book for the election savaging Trump’s character, calling him “a sleazeball narcissist” and “not very smart.” McConnell also said that Trump’s actions surrounding January 6th were an “impeachable offense,” adding, “I think in his urging insurrection and people attacking the Capitol as a direct result is about as close to an impeachable offense as you can imagine, with the possible exception of maybe being an agent for another country.”
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