Mitch McConnell formally congratulates Biden and Harris on Senate floor

By artappraiser on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 11:18am |

BREAKING: Senate Majority Leader McConnell: "The Electoral College has spoken ... Today, I want to congratulate President-elect Biden." pic.twitter.com/lsAdel7rgd
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 15, 2020

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https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1338867152586096645?s=20

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A.P.:

BREAKING: Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell acknowledges Joe Biden is president-elect, says the Electoral College "has spoken." https://t.co/ftMgsaJhPo
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) December 15, 2020

mx3x:

#BidenWillNeverBePresident @realDonaldTrump takes his case to the food court, pic.twitter.com/bCK3BletDB
— mx3x (@MuckleBow) December 15, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 11:25am

What Biden said last night:

Biden says that 7 Senate Republicans, “mostly senior,” have called him tonight. He spoke to “one of the most senior members” who expressed a willingness to work on China and infrastructure. It’s going to take 6-8 months but GOP will work w him, “you’re going to be surprised.”
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 15, 2020

Biden recounted a call he had tonight w "one of the most senior members" of Senate GOP. "Joe, we've always been able to work together and there's a lot we can work on" was the msg from this lawmaker, who said he's willing to work w Biden on China, covid, health & infrastructure.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 15, 2020

"I predict to you, and I may eat these words, I predict you as Donald Trump's shadow fades away, you're going to see an awful lot of change," Biden said as he reflected tonight on outreach from Senate Republicans.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 15, 2020

“I know I've been criticized heavily for saying from the beginning, we've got to unify the country," Biden said. "I think you're going to be surprised. It's going to take six to eight months to get it under way but I think you’re going to be surprised."
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 15, 2020

"I’ve never once misled any of my Republican colleagues. Not one single time. And they know they can trust Kamala as well. And we can figure out where we can cooperate. Where we can’t, we have our arguments," Biden said tonight on a video call with grassroots supporters.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 15, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 11:38am

What Mitch said Nov. 17: transfer of power will happen on time. Suggestion to read this from Nov. 8 if you haven't::

“He doesn’t waste time telling me why I am wrong,” Mr. McConnell said in a bipartisan parting tribute in 2016 as Mr. Biden presided over the Senate https://t.co/HWgDOqJo0K
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) November 9, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 11:43am

yes, drumpf is still at it

pic.twitter.com/Cv99MUj38t
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 15, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 12:50pm

McConnell finally answers the ‘gotcha question of the day’ by acknowledging Biden’s win, but much of the GOP remains in denial, @pkcapitol writes https://t.co/IPeQ4owdEv
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) December 16, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 7:38pm

Scoop: McConnell alerted White House before congratulating Biden

by Alayna Treene @ Axios.com, 5 hrs. ago

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called White House chief of staff Mark Meadows Tuesday morning to say he planned on congratulating Joe Biden on winning the Electoral College and would officially address him as president-elect on the Senate floor, two sources familiar with the call tell Axios.

Why it matters: The Senate leader had resisted public demands to acknowledge Biden's victory despite the president's losing court battles, holding off until electors had formally given Biden the 270 votes he needed to secure his win on Monday. The delay underscored that McConnell still needs President Trump to back must-pass legislation before leaving office, one of the sources said.

The Kentucky Republican — whose wife, Elaine Chao, serves in the president's Cabinet — did not speak directly with Trump.

Beyond Trump's help in the Senate, McConnell also needs the support of Trump voters in the pivotal Georgia Senate runoff elections next month. Republicans must win both races or face a 50-50 split Senate with the Democrats, and Vice President Kamala Harris, casting tie-breaking votes in her party's favor.

McConnell also made clear during a phone call Tuesday afternoon he doesn’t want Senate Republicans doing anything to jeopardize incumbents up for reelection in the critical 2022 midterms.

Yes, but: McConnell's courtesy call to the White House didn’t stop Trump from tweeting an article quoting Rep. Mo Brooks. The Alabama Republican asserted: "‘Trump Won the Electoral College' - I Can Be a Part of the ‘Surrender Caucus‘ or I Can Fight for Our Country,” just moments after McConnell spoke.

A spokesperson for McConnell declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

by artappraiser on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 11:43pm

McConnell urges GOP senators not to object to Electoral College vote

By Jordain Carney & Alexander Bolton @ TheHill.com - 12/15/20 03:15 PM EST

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is urging Republicans not to object during Congress’s count and certification of the Electoral College vote next month.

McConnell’s comments were made during a caucus call on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the call, and come as House Republicans are eyeing a challenge to the results on Jan. 6 during a joint session of Congress.

A Republican senator who participated in the call said that McConnell, Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) all urged colleagues not to object to states’ electoral votes when they are received on the House floor next month.

McConnell warned that any GOP senator who signed onto a House Republican objection to a state’s electoral votes would then force the Senate to debate and vote on the objection, putting fellow GOP senators in a bad position.

The GOP leader said an objection “isn’t in the best interest of everybody.”

No Senate Republicans indicated during the call that they are currently planning to object.

“Not that I heard,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), asked if anyone indicated that they would object during the call.

Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the No. 3 GOP senator, added that he hasn’t “heard of any” GOP senator willing to object next month.

"I think that there was encouragement on the phone for us to accept the result, as much as it's not what we, you know, would have envisioned for the next four years, and to try to do what's best for American people, which is to look forward," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said about the call.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) has said he will object as part of next month’s Electoral College count, and is likely to gain support from other Trump allies in the House.

But to successfully force a debate and vote on his objection he’ll need support from at least one GOP senator. That’s only happened twice since 1887, according to the Congressional Research Service.

No Republican senator has joined Brooks, though a few conservatives, including Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Rand Paul (Ky.), haven’t ruled it out [....]

same at Politico:

McConnell warns Senate Republicans against challenging election results

His guidance comes one day after the Electoral College officially affirmed Biden's win

plus this

McConnell told his caucus that challenging the results would force Republicans to take a “terrible vote” because they would need to vote it down and appear against President Donald Trump. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) also echoed McConnell’s remarks.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said that no one objected on the call to McConnell encouraging members to accept the election results.

"There wasn’t any pushback to it," she said. "There’s wasn’t anyone saying: oh wait a minute. That didn’t occur."

they also have this story, echoing the Axios story above

How McConnell and the GOP let Trump down gently

The top Senate Republican finally recognized Biden's win, but he still needs the president's help.

by artappraiser on Wed, 12/16/2020 - 12:19am

The Joe and Mitch show gets started

By Renuka Rayasam @ Politico nightly 12/15/2020 08:00 PM EST

MCCONNELL IN THE MIDDLE — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did today what President Donald Trump has not: He congratulated Joe Biden on winning the presidential election in November.

McConnell’s recognition of Biden, along with his plea to Senate Republicans not to challenge the election results, was calculated. McConnell was careful not to alienate Trump — he waited an entire month after the election, until the Electoral College cast its votes — but he also surely wanted to protect his majority from voting to confirm the election results on Jan. 6. As Marianne LeVine and Melanie Zanona write, if the Senate were forced to deliberate the election results, most GOP senators would be going on the record against a president who values fealty above all else.

The Senate majority leader even transmitted a message to the White House ahead of time that he would be congratulating Biden on his win over Trump, according to a source familiar with the matter, writes Burgess Everett.

McConnell will have to work closely with Biden over the next two years, particularly if he leads a slim GOP majority. But he also has to work with Trump over the next few weeks: to pass coronavirus relief and a government funding bill and to win the two Georgia Senate runoff races.

Nightly caught up with Senate reporter Marianne over Slack today to talk about the relationship between McConnell and Biden. This conversation has been edited.

How well do McConnell and Biden know each other?

Both men have referred to each other as “friends.” And McConnell was the only Senate Republican to attend Beau Biden’s funeral.

Have they spoken since Election Day?

Biden told reporters that he spoke to McConnell today and thanked him for this floor speech. It’s not completely clear if they’d spoken before that. Biden at a recent press conference declined to say whether he’d spoken to the majority leader, prompting some speculation in Twitterverse.

Do you think this will translate to the pair hashing out deals?

Their long-standing relationship is likely to help in the sense that they seem to understand each other. Both men worked closely together while Biden was vice president. For example, in 2012 Biden and McConnell reached a bipartisan compromise on the fiscal cliff.

But the Senate has only become a more partisan institution and while bipartisanship was a big part of Biden’s campaign pitch, it’s hard to know how much appetite for that there will be. McConnell’s moves will be guided by a desire to protect his majority in 2022.

What does this mean for Biden’s agenda?

The first test will be how McConnell handles Biden’s Cabinet appointments [....]

by artappraiser on Wed, 12/16/2020 - 12:33am

Maggie Haberman 15 min. ago:

At 12:41 am, POTUS tweets responding to McConnell acknowledgment of Biden as president-elect pic.twitter.com/XSchVv6DA4
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 16, 2020

edit to add-3 hrs. earlier she retweeted WaPo's coverage of the McConnell meeting with Senators:

>@seungminkim & @rachaelmbade go inside the room (er, phone call) as McConnell lobbies Republican senators to avoid a messy, pointless spectacle when the Electoral College votes are counted on Jan. 6 https://t.co/F3aDbsEgcs
— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) December 16, 2020

by artappraiser on Wed, 12/16/2020 - 12:51am

Mitch McConnell formally congratulates Biden and Harris on Senate floor

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