Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to advance President Barack Obama’s agenda, stating that the $1.15 trillion omnibus bill was the best compromise he could secure in the absence of a Republican president. Republican majorities in the House and Senate were not leveraged towards integrating conservative policies to counter Obama’s policies.
Joining CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, McConnell said, “We had to work with a Democratic president who wanted to spend more on the domestic side. If it’d been left up to me, we wouldn’t have added that much back, but nobody is a dictator here. We can’t do things, one party only, in a time of divided government.”
Deftly avoiding an mention of the omnibus bill’s cost, Tapper invited McConnell to respond to Representative Nancy Pelosi saying Republicans “gave away the store” in order lift a ban on exporting crude oil. Also mentioned was Rush Limbaugh’s description of McConnell’s leadership as no different from former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s.
“It is as though Nancy Pelosi is still running the House and Harry Reid is still running the Senate. ‘Betrayed’ is not even the word here. What has happened here is worse than betrayal. Betrayal is pretty bad, but it’s worse than that,” said Limbaugh of Republican complicity in signing off on Obama’s agenda without leveraging congressional powers.
Earlier in the segment, McConnell opted not to respond to Senator Ted Cruz’s exposure of his dishonesty when lying to Senate colleagues about private negotiations with Democrats.
McConnell also mischaracterized Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration and visitation, saying that it would lead to the blocking of Muslim heads of state. Trump is on record stating his proposal includes exceptions for such circumstances.
No mention was made of daring Obama’s veto with a spending bill not to the President’s liking.