Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was being treated Thursday for a concussion and is expected to remain in the hospital for “a few days” after he tripped and fell at a hotel dinner the night before, his spokesman said.
The Kentucky senator, 81, was at a Wednesday evening dinner after a reception for the Senate Leadership Fund, a campaign committee aligned with him, when he tripped and fell. The events were at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, formerly the Trump International Hotel.
Spokesman David Popp said McConnell is being treated for a concussion and “is grateful to the medical professionals for their care and to his colleagues for their warm wishes.” McConnell’s office did not provide additional detail on his condition or how long he may be absent from the Senate.
Happened over a week ago. But it has put the Republican Senate Leadership on notice Mitch may not be able to continue much longer. As I understand it, he came into Senate Republican Leadership in 2007 and is the longest running partisan leader in Senate history.
I hate to think who will take over if he has to step down.
Happened over a week ago. But it has put the Republican Senate Leadership on notice Mitch may not be able to continue much longer. As I understand it, he came into Senate Republican Leadership in 2007 and is the longest running partisan leader in Senate history.
I hate to think who will take over if he has to step down.
Perhaps he has the same concerns as you. Not so much perhaps, as more likely.
CBS is reporting McConnell has been released from the hospital but will be in a rehab center for two weeks. Physicians are reporting he also had a rib fracture from the fall.
CBS is reporting McConnell has been released from the hospital but will be in a rehab center for two weeks. Physicians are reporting he also had a rib fracture from the fall.
The Washington Post (paywalled) is reporting that a longer absence is likely.
The 81-year-old senator was hospitalized for five days and treated for a concussion after he tripped while attending a private dinner at a Washington hotel on March 8. Last week, McConnell checked into an inpatient rehabilitation center, his spokesman said, where he’ll receive physical therapy before going home.
Given that timeline, it’s unlikely McConnell will return before the Senate begins a long Easter recess on March 30 that will keep the chamber closed for legislative business until April 17.
“I told him not to be in a big hurry, because we’re not doing anything here,” said [ Republican Senator John ] Cornyn, who added that McConnell didn’t provide a timetable for his return.
While the process might be distasteful, maybe the press should do more about this matter than simply accepting Republican press releases at face value.
So this happened, though I'm not sure anyone is particularly surprised by this development.
Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Santos, who was taken into federal custody Wednesday morning, is expected to appear at federal court in New York’s Eastern District. He faces 13 federal charges: seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
Not surprised about George Santos, no. And while Sen. Feinstein has physically returned to the Capitol, the narratives swirling re: the degree to which she's literally being shepherded through her day-to-day activities is still worrying. Bench appointments seem to have been jump-started, though, so that's slightly encouraging. The debt ceiling issue is frustrating. Would that Congress could manage this regular feature of American governance without brinkmanship. Seems as if that's simply asking too much.
The debt ceiling issue is frustrating. Would that Congress could manage this regular feature of American governance without brinkmanship. Seems as if that's simply asking too much.
The debt ceiling is one of those uniquely American things. As far as I know no other country has such a law on its books. It was enacted during the First World War for dubious reasons and should have been retired long ago.
It's an obtuse system, for sure, and nothing at all like the kind of reality we citizens have to abide within re: our own debts. I'm not a finance person or conservative (any more), but I still struggle to rationalize reflexively increasing the country's debt limit. That being the case, I don't know why we don't just double it, triple it, or more instead of making incremental nudges that may or may not sustain things for even one congressional term.
The debt ceiling issue is frustrating. Would that Congress could manage this regular feature of American governance without brinkmanship. Seems as if that's simply asking too much.
The debt ceiling is one of those uniquely American things. As far as I know no other country has such a law on its books. It was enacted during the First World War for dubious reasons and should have been retired long ago.
It's an obtuse system, for sure, and nothing at all like the kind of reality we citizens have to abide within re: our own debts. I'm not a finance person or conservative (any more), but I still struggle to rationalize reflexively increasing the country's debt limit.
One of the things that's obscured, perhaps deliberately, in these debates is that failing to raise the debt ceiling won't freeze or eliminate debts run up by the United States. That spending has already been authorized/mandated by Congress. Not raising the debt ceiling is essentially the government refusing to pay its bills. Kind of like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering an expensive meal with a $500 bottle of wine, and then arguing that the "fiscally responsible" thing to do is to skip out on the check.
That being the case, I don't know why we don't just double it, triple it, or more instead of making incremental nudges that may or may not sustain things for even one congressional term.
Why not just eliminate it? It mostly serves as a way for future Congresses to hold the world economy hostage to the U.S. defaulting on its debts, something the Fourteenth Amendment specifically prohibits.
It's an obtuse system, for sure, and nothing at all like the kind of reality we citizens have to abide within re: our own debts. I'm not a finance person or conservative (any more), but I still struggle to rationalize reflexively increasing the country's debt limit.
One of the things that's obscured, perhaps deliberately, in these debates is that failing to raise the debt ceiling won't freeze or eliminate debts run up by the United States. That spending has already been authorized/mandated by Congress. Not raising the debt ceiling is essentially the government refusing to pay its bills. Kind of like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering an expensive meal with a $500 bottle of wine, and then arguing that the "fiscally responsible" thing to do is to skip out on the check.
That being the case, I don't know why we don't just double it, triple it, or more instead of making incremental nudges that may or may not sustain things for even one congressional term.
Why not just eliminate it? It mostly serves as a way for future Congresses to hold the world economy hostage to the U.S. defaulting on its debts, something the Fourteenth Amendment specifically prohibits.
I mean, sure -- render it moot in one way or another.
Upthread, I had mentioned that it may be quite possible the slim Republican majority of the House may be lost through natural attrition. People scoffed. Well, George Santos is under indictment for campaign fraud. If convicted, that seat may go Democrat. And now Chris Steward of Utah is resigning because of his wife's failing health (prayers for her). That seat will likely stay Republican, though it may be vacant for up to 90 days--Utah governor will call for a special election to fill the seat.
That will bring the Republican majority to just two through the summer months.
And it only takes one Representative to call for a no confidence vote on McCarthy's leadership.
Upthread, I had mentioned that it may be quite possible the slim Republican majority of the House may be lost through natural attrition. People scoffed. Well, George Santos is under indictment for campaign fraud. If convicted, that seat may go Democrat. And now Chris Steward of Utah is resigning because of his wife's failing health (prayers for her). That seat will likely stay Republican, though it may be vacant for up to 90 days--Utah governor will call for a special election to fill the seat.
That will bring the Republican majority to just two through the summer months.
This is counterbalanced by the resignation of Democrat David Cicilline (effective today), which was announced back in February. Given the politics of Rhode Island's first congressional district Cicilline will almost certainly be replaced by another Democrat. The special election to fill this vacancy is scheduled for November 7.
Upthread, I had mentioned that it may be quite possible the slim Republican majority of the House may be lost through natural attrition. People scoffed. Well, George Santos is under indictment for campaign fraud. If convicted, that seat may go Democrat. And now Chris Steward of Utah is resigning because of his wife's failing health (prayers for her). That seat will likely stay Republican, though it may be vacant for up to 90 days--Utah governor will call for a special election to fill the seat.
That will bring the Republican majority to just two through the summer months.
Santos’s trial is not, so far as I know, scheduled for this summer. It may not happen until late 2023 or perhaps even 2024.
A man who briefly worked as an aide to U.S. Rep. George Santos says he got his job after sending a series of payments to one of the Republican’s top deputies.
Derek Myers, 31, told staff of the House’s ethics subcommittee during an interview Wednesday that while he was trying to get a job in Santos’ congressional office in late January, he sent at least seven $150 payments to Santos’ director of operations, Vish Burra.
Myers shared details about the payments, including receipts and text messages, with The Associated Press. His account of how Burra helped him get hired hasn’t previously been reported and raises questions about potential ethical improprieties around Santos.
Myers only held the job briefly. Santos claims Myers was fired because a background check turned up a conviction for wiretapping. Myers claims he was fired after spurning Santos' sexual advances.
Myers acknowledged during his interview with the House investigators that he had secretly recorded at least one conversation with Santos and later shared it with a journalist. He also said he had gone to the FBI while still working for Santos, with the intention of possibly working as a confidential informant for law enforcement.
I guess that concern about wiretapping was somewhat justified. On the other hand both reasons for Myers' firing could be true.
For the record, the District of Columbia is a single party consent jurisdiction when it comes to recording conversations. In summary, if one party to the conversation (Derek Myers) consents to recording the conversation (implicit by his recording of the conversation), then the consent of any other party or parties to the conversation (George Santos) is legally irrelevant.
This came up a number of years ago in the context of Omarosa Manigault (remember her?) allegedly secretly recording fellow Trump staffers.
Looks like the House of Representatives is in gridlock. The eleven members of the Freedom Council is refusing to allow any bill come before the house. This revolt started a week ago because the Freedom Council felt McCarthy gave too much away in the debt ceiling compromise. McCarthy is saying their obstinance is giving the power to the Democratic side, though the Dems can't move anything forward as well.
Igor Bobic
Durbin tells me it would be “tempting” to UC military promotions with Tuberville missing but notes that “one of the unwritten rules of the place is you don’t take advantage of a person’s absence.”
Another GOP senator could also object in his place
As an explainer, Senator Tommy Tuberville has been holding up the promotions of all high level military officers for somewhat crazy anti-abortion reasons. Tuberville was absent from the Senate yesterday because he wanted to attend Trump's post-arraignment fundraiser at his Bedminster country club. The obvious thing to do would be to hold a unanimous consent (UC) vote on the promotions in Tuberville's absence and dare the Republicans to have someone else vote against the troops. Democratic whip Dick Durbin is showing a remarkable amount of naïvété in dealing with Republican bad faith.
I could see extending this kind of comity to someone who was absent because they were spending time by the side of their dying spouse (or similar emergency), but a Senator not showing up for his job because he wants to kiss Trump's ass does not deserve that kind of consideration.
If anyone needs an exemplar of what happens in game theory when playing prisoners' dilemma and one is stuck in always defect and the other in always generous...
The Republicans in the House have voted to censure Adam Schiff. Next, there will be several votes to impeach Joe Biden. These moves are coming from the Freedom Caucus.
For those is us who don’t do Twitter, what did Biden say?
It contains an embedded video of Marjorie Taylor Greene "denouncing" Joe Biden's accomplishments. Here's a transcript.
Joe Biden had the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete. Programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, labor unions. And he still is working on it.
The tweet itself simply says "I approve this message."
I'm guessing because the American right wing media is such a hermetically sealed environment they don't realize how they sound when talking to people outside it. For example, most Americans regard Medicare as the reason their parents or grandparents can still go to the doctor, not some socialist nightmare foisted on the country by the diabolical LBJ. The disdainful sneer in Greene's voice when she says "urban problems" is what makes it art, though.
For those is us who don’t do Twitter, what did Biden say?
I don't do Twitter either, but I can pull up Twitter links. It is just that I cannot reply to the links or post anything on twitter. Try it, just for kicks.
For those is us who don’t do Twitter, what did Biden say?
I don't do Twitter either, but I can pull up Twitter links. It is just that I cannot reply to the links or post anything on twitter. Try it, just for kicks.
I did try it before I asked my question, and I got nothing. But thanks all the same.
For those is us who don’t do Twitter, what did Biden say?
I don't do Twitter either, but I can pull up Twitter links. It is just that I cannot reply to the links or post anything on twitter. Try it, just for kicks.
I think Musk has started making it harder to browse twitter, or X as we must presumably now call it.
Mitch McConnell froze up in mid-sentence at a press conference, doing nothing but standing behind a podium staring straight ahead for about twenty seconds before being led away by aides/colleagues. McConnell later denied there was anything wrong aside from some temporary lightheadedness.
Mitch McConnell froze up in mid-sentence at a press conference, doing nothing but standing behind a podium staring straight ahead for about twenty seconds before being led away by aides/colleagues. McConnell later denied there was anything wrong aside from some temporary lightheadedness.
If that had happened to Biden, FOX News, would be all over it.
On the other hand, I get mind farts every so often.
Some of my best friends were Republicans. I am not.
. I grew up in Washington DC and had many friends over the years from political working families in both parties. We had many interesting conversations in young adulthood in which I think both sides learned something. I find it strange that there seem to be extremes on both sides of the political fence now, with a complete failure to work together for the good of all. It is simply to win at all costs, not listen to each other, nor work together for the common good. Life in the US right now so often sounds fear-based to me not hope-based. I find this is very much against my faith value as a Christian. Again and again, scripture tells me to," fear not."
Working together for the common good assumes agreement on what is good and who is part of the common. Polarisation is a symptom of a frankly dangerous GOP, not a freestanding problem. Trying to treat the symptom is a bit like suppressing the immune system and thinking that you've cured the illness because the fever is gone.
To try to accommodate the GOP within "normal" political discourse is simply to perpetuate the failures that followed premature ending of Reconstruction.
I find it strange that there seem to be extremes on both sides of the political fence now, with a complete failure to work together for the good of all.
It's hard to find a middle ground compromise with a political movement whose aim is to establish an authoritarian ethno-state. If the Republican party is not interested in "the good of all" their unwillingness to work towards this end is unsurprising.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after a speech in Covington, Kentucky.
The incident is similar to an episode McConnell experienced at the US Capitol late last month and is likely to raise additional questions about the fitness of the 81-year-old to lead the Senate Republican caucus.
Wednesday’s episode occurred when a reporter asked the Republican leader if he was planning to run for reelection in 2026. McConnell had to ask him to repeat the question several times, chuckled for a moment, and then paused, closing his mouth and staring straight ahead.
Someone at his side then asked him, “Did you hear the question, senator, running for reelection in 2026?” McConnell did not respond.
“I’m sorry you all, we’re gonna need a minute,” the aide told reporters. A member of the senator’s detail spoke quietly to him for a moment, and McConnell was able to whisper an answer to him.
McConnell turned back to reporters, said, “OK,” and his aide asked if anyone had another question, and if reporters could “speak up.”
For those who want to see for themselves, the video is here. In total McConnell appeared to be frozen for about twenty seconds.
Sad to say there are several elderly politicians on the national level that should retire. Maybe there should be a mandatory retirement age.
I'd rather question why it is that superannuated people occupy leadership positions for so long. In the UK you occasionally get MPs in their 80s, but just 21 out of 650 were over 70 when elected at the 2019 election, and the eldest is currently 83. Among cabinet ministers (i.e. those required to do more than sit on a green bench and be herded through a voting lobby occasionally) the eldest is 72, the leader of the lords, who has 10 years or more on his colleagues. It's hard to imagine even a venerated elder statesman still holding senior office into their 80s.
Comments
Happened over a week ago. But it has put the Republican Senate Leadership on notice Mitch may not be able to continue much longer. As I understand it, he came into Senate Republican Leadership in 2007 and is the longest running partisan leader in Senate history.
I hate to think who will take over if he has to step down.
Perhaps he has the same concerns as you. Not so much perhaps, as more likely.
"better the devil you know" and "Après moi, le déluge" [after me the flood] chief among them.
Indeed
The Washington Post (paywalled) is reporting that a longer absence is likely.
While the process might be distasteful, maybe the press should do more about this matter than simply accepting Republican press releases at face value.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/dianne-feinstein-back-dc-still-missed-another-vote-rcna83794
The debt ceiling is one of those uniquely American things. As far as I know no other country has such a law on its books. It was enacted during the First World War for dubious reasons and should have been retired long ago.
Denmark has something like a debt ceiling:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64878254.amp
But they seem to increase it when necessary without much problem.
One of the things that's obscured, perhaps deliberately, in these debates is that failing to raise the debt ceiling won't freeze or eliminate debts run up by the United States. That spending has already been authorized/mandated by Congress. Not raising the debt ceiling is essentially the government refusing to pay its bills. Kind of like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering an expensive meal with a $500 bottle of wine, and then arguing that the "fiscally responsible" thing to do is to skip out on the check.
Why not just eliminate it? It mostly serves as a way for future Congresses to hold the world economy hostage to the U.S. defaulting on its debts, something the Fourteenth Amendment specifically prohibits.
I mean, sure -- render it moot in one way or another.
That will bring the Republican majority to just two through the summer months.
And it only takes one Representative to call for a no confidence vote on McCarthy's leadership.
This is counterbalanced by the resignation of Democrat David Cicilline (effective today), which was announced back in February. Given the politics of Rhode Island's first congressional district Cicilline will almost certainly be replaced by another Democrat. The special election to fill this vacancy is scheduled for November 7.
Myers only held the job briefly. Santos claims Myers was fired because a background check turned up a conviction for wiretapping. Myers claims he was fired after spurning Santos' sexual advances.
I guess that concern about wiretapping was somewhat justified. On the other hand both reasons for Myers' firing could be true.
This came up a number of years ago in the context of Omarosa Manigault (remember her?) allegedly secretly recording fellow Trump staffers.
Too bad, so sad.
As an explainer, Senator Tommy Tuberville has been holding up the promotions of all high level military officers for somewhat crazy anti-abortion reasons. Tuberville was absent from the Senate yesterday because he wanted to attend Trump's post-arraignment fundraiser at his Bedminster country club. The obvious thing to do would be to hold a unanimous consent (UC) vote on the promotions in Tuberville's absence and dare the Republicans to have someone else vote against the troops. Democratic whip Dick Durbin is showing a remarkable amount of naïvété in dealing with Republican bad faith.
I could see extending this kind of comity to someone who was absent because they were spending time by the side of their dying spouse (or similar emergency), but a Senator not showing up for his job because he wants to kiss Trump's ass does not deserve that kind of consideration.
That ship has long sailed. If Republicans were willing to adhere to norms of Senate comity and procedure Merrick Garland would be on the Supreme Court
He didn't, AIUI, he took MTG whining as complimentary.
It contains an embedded video of Marjorie Taylor Greene "denouncing" Joe Biden's accomplishments. Here's a transcript.
The tweet itself simply says "I approve this message."
I'm guessing because the American right wing media is such a hermetically sealed environment they don't realize how they sound when talking to people outside it. For example, most Americans regard Medicare as the reason their parents or grandparents can still go to the doctor, not some socialist nightmare foisted on the country by the diabolical LBJ. The disdainful sneer in Greene's voice when she says "urban problems" is what makes it art, though.
I don't do Twitter either, but I can pull up Twitter links. It is just that I cannot reply to the links or post anything on twitter. Try it, just for kicks.
I think Musk has started making it harder to browse twitter, or X as we must presumably now call it.
If that had happened to Biden, FOX News, would be all over it.
On the other hand, I get mind farts every so often.
. I grew up in Washington DC and had many friends over the years from political working families in both parties. We had many interesting conversations in young adulthood in which I think both sides learned something. I find it strange that there seem to be extremes on both sides of the political fence now, with a complete failure to work together for the good of all. It is simply to win at all costs, not listen to each other, nor work together for the common good. Life in the US right now so often sounds fear-based to me not hope-based. I find this is very much against my faith value as a Christian. Again and again, scripture tells me to," fear not."
To try to accommodate the GOP within "normal" political discourse is simply to perpetuate the failures that followed premature ending of Reconstruction.
It's hard to find a middle ground compromise with a political movement whose aim is to establish an authoritarian ethno-state. If the Republican party is not interested in "the good of all" their unwillingness to work towards this end is unsurprising.
For those who want to see for themselves, the video is here. In total McConnell appeared to be frozen for about twenty seconds.
I'd rather question why it is that superannuated people occupy leadership positions for so long. In the UK you occasionally get MPs in their 80s, but just 21 out of 650 were over 70 when elected at the 2019 election, and the eldest is currently 83. Among cabinet ministers (i.e. those required to do more than sit on a green bench and be herded through a voting lobby occasionally) the eldest is 72, the leader of the lords, who has 10 years or more on his colleagues. It's hard to imagine even a venerated elder statesman still holding senior office into their 80s.
With certain well-noted exceptions.