McConnell pens editorial calling for bipartisanship after Dems take House
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) penned an op-ed calling for bipartisanship a week after Democrats took control of the House.
In an op-ed published by Fox News on Tuesday, the Kentucky Republican asks readers: “Will Dems work with us, or simply put partisan politics ahead of the country?”
“Last Tuesday I was proud to see that the American people voted keep Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate,” McConnell writes. “But we also learned that, come January, the Republican Senate majority will be dealing with a House of Representatives under Democratic control.”
{mosads}McConnell goes on to write about what he believes are his party’s “prolific” achievements in the past several years while also stressing the importance of bipartisanship in Congress to “continue this impressive record of cooperation across the aisle and across the Capitol.”
“In fact, some of the most significant accomplishments of this Congress have been delivered with overwhelmingly bipartisan support,” he continued.
McConnell also points out in the op-ed that although he feels some House Democrats “have made clear their preference for investigations over policy results” in the coming year, Senate Republicans “will continue our commitment to delivering results.”
“This is what the Senate’s Republican majority was elected to do,” he adds. “And we’ll continue to get it done.”
His call for bipartisanship did not go over well with some liberals who called the op-ed “ironic” given his previous actions under the Obama administration.
“Such an ironic Op-Ed title coming from you @senatemajldr – don’t you think?” Democrat Amy McGrath, a former fighter pilot who captured headlines earlier this year for her attempts to unseat Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), said on Twitter.
Such an ironic Op-Ed title coming from you @senatemajldr – don’t you think? https://t.co/RFJVeRp6z4
— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) November 13, 2018
“Remember all the times when @SenateGOP acted in a bipartisan way over Merrick Garland? Or ever?” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), the co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Twitter.
Pocan was referring to the Republican refusal to hold a confirmation hearing for former President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court in 2016 following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Remember all the times when @SenateGOP acted in a bipartisan way over Merrick Garland? Or ever?
Me neither. https://t.co/8ew8zVDPue
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) November 13, 2018
“Perfect. Let’s invest in infrastructure, reduce Rx drug costs & take care of Dreamers. *All things Trump says he supports,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) also said on Twitter in response to McConnell’s op-ed.
“But are you still the obstructor who in 2010 said ‘The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term President.'” he asked.
Swalwell was referring to remarks the Republican made in 2010 when he said that defeating Obama was his highest political goal.
“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,” he said then.
He also said in 2016 he wished Republicans “would have been able to obstruct more” parts of Obama’s agenda while in office.
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