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Timely observations about @senatemajldr & his service to Trump from @ThePlumLineGS. Look at this from the standpoint of the Senate as an institution for a moment.
2. The Senate is widely acknowledged to be a less effective legislative body than it was two or three decades ago. This can even be quantified to some extent, by comparing numbers of oversight hearings, substantive bills passed and (of course) timely passage of appropriations.
3. Yet, this loss to the Senate has gone along with massive gains within the Senate, in the authority of the Majority Leader. McConnell now has close to an absolute veto as to the content as well as the scheduling of legislation.
4. If @senatemajldr wants government agencies shut down, they shut down. The thing to remember is, McConnell’s authority rests on the unanimous support he has from his caucus. If Senate Republicans start opposing him, his control over the Senate will start to evaporate.
5. McConnell is popular with the largest Republican donors, all-important within the GOP. So the major potential threat to his control of the Senate would be discontent among the most zealous Republican Senators, the supporters of Trump.
6. Like other establishment Republicans, @senatemajldr is terrified of Trump. He knows people whose support he needs react to Trump’s tweets and feel liberated by Trump’s overt racism. So to avoid division in his caucus, McConnell ran for cover...
7... when Trump chose to shut down government agencies. I don’t think McConnell cares about Trump’s stupid wall. He just wants a settlement Trump will agree to, whatever that is; he does not feel he can devise such a settlement himself. So he blocks the Senate from acting.
8. Now, as @jiwallner and others have explained, McConnell’s absolute control over what the Senate debates and votes on can be challenged by the minority, in ways that would test unanimous Republican backing for McConnell and for Trump. It’s possible.
9. There are good reasons to hope for this that don’t relate to Trump at all. An ineffective Senate with power concentrated in the Majority Leader’s office is....just an ineffective Senate. It’s bad for the country.
10. A bloody, acrimonious fight over the extent of the Majority Leader’s power would be just what the Senate needs right now. It would also, incidentally, allow Senate Democrats to show they are doing more to end the shutdown than telling sad stories of...
11... federal workers not getting paid and trash in the national parks. They could treat this situation as a national crisis before it actually becomes one, even if that means missing a few fundraising calls. And they could take the first step toward restoring the Senate. [end]
