12
Number of times that Mitch McConnell passed bills out of the Senate, even though Barack Obama had already said he would veto those bills.
3
Number of times in just the last two weeks that Mitch McConnell has wasted the Senate’s time by calling a vote on an Israel bill that he knows will not pass.
2
Number of times Mitch McConnell has blocked a vote on a bill that would reopen the government.
0
Number of times that Mitch McConnell has done anything at all to challenge Trump and uphold the constitutional authority of the Senate.
For the third week in a row, McConnell has refused to take up any bill that would fund all or part of the government, specifically acting on Tuesday to block a vote on the most recent bill passed out of the House. Instead, he spent Monday voting for the third time on a bill that would punish any organization that boycotted Israel, a bill that the ACLU has strongly opposed, and that has already failed to secure majority support in two previous votes. It failed again.
Under President Obama, McConnell challenged the White House 12 times by passing bills to which Obama had already announced his opposition. And Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, overrode an Obama veto in 2016 when a bill that allowed lawsuits against Saudi Arabia by 9/11 victims passed 97-1 in the Senate. But under Trump, McConnell isn’t even willing to risk the chance that something might upset the hamberdler in chief. Tweeted Washington Post correspondent Erica Werner:
McConnell asked if the Senate might try to override a Trump veto to end shutdown: “Of course not.”
That’s an amazing display of cowardice. Even for a turtle.