Marjorie Taylor Greene of all people is calling on Mitch to step down.
Certainly not all of them, there’s no need to go chasing zebras.
Also, Mitch McConnell owes us a lot less about his confidential medical information than you might think.
In the pool of elected officials whose brains don’t work correctly, she sees an opportunity to reduce the amount of competition.
Some Republicans – even RINOs – are starting to say the quiet part out loud:
For fans of West Wing, I’m reminded of the “Separation of Powers” plot line where the Chief Justice was in ill and declining health.
Nobody owes me honest and complete information here. What I hope is that there is honest and complete information, and that the people who run the machinery have that information and are prepared/preparing to make decisions as circumstances change.
Also, it’s not absolutely clear thst “continuing his regular schedule” (whatever that entails at this point, does bear wondering, I mean there’s 4 weeks to approve either a budget or a continuance) means “nothing to worry about at all, moving right along…” It could mean “for now, keep at no more than the pace you are but listen to your specialist if he tells you otherwise”. But that would be privileged communication subject to the patient’s consent to release. The Attending Physician of Congress is not Dr. McCoy, he is not there to say “you are in no condition to serve I order you to sickbay” for everyone to hear. So if “no, he’s not about to drop dead” is the part the patient approves for release, that’s the part that’s released.
We have 100 senators. If one or two aren’t functional, it doesn’t actually break anything. I would think the minimum standard to continue as a senator is quite low.
I don’t know how critical the minority leader is, and that might be more problematic.
In 2008, Mitch established that the only job of a minority leader is to always say no to the majority. I know four year olds that can do that job.
From The Atlantic article I quoted at length above (post #265):
There are times when that one vote makes all the difference in the world.
I disagree. I’ve often found myself in the situation where I’m perhaps a bit low on potassium, the room is a bit too warm, and a basic question triggers me to go on a vision quest. Totally happens.
(In all seriousness, obviously I hope his condition can be treated well, but he really should retire. Indeed, it’s difficult to understand why he even wants to continue)
The doctor didn’t, he just gave two possible causes of lightheadedness. I assume that was a symptom reported to him by McConnell. The statement is basically totally empty.
Mitch: “I’m feeling lightheaded.”
Doctor: “I diagnose you with lightheadedness.”
Going back to the real reason people are worked up, the big deal is that with not only an election year rolling in, but more immediately only 3 legislative working weeks in the fiscal year with a split Congress and the batshit let-it-burn caucus riled up and feeling empowered by having a weak Speaker of the House grabbed by the delicates, yeah, it would be important to have an R leader in the Senate who is (a) not from the batshit insane end-the-world wing (b) steadily firing on all cylinders and ready to go when the time comes for hard horsetrading and keeping people in line.
Now, sure, the senior committee ranking members, the whips and deputies should all be expected to be prepared to step up if calked to, but how well have they laid ground work for the conference to move on in Mitch’s absence without it degenerating into the same flustercuck the House experience?
To a great extent, the Senate majority and POTUS counted on this “known quantity” in the opposition. If there is a sudden vacuum there, things get even more complicated. So everyone’s counting on that at least his mental faculties are all there and they only need pause for five or ten minutes now and then to let him reset and resume work.
“Of all people”? This is her excuse to talk about how ‘Sleepy’ Joe should be removed from office because of the infirmities the right imagines he has.
Yep. The howlin’ mad caucus are not concerned about age and cognition, they just want to get rid of seasoned, procedure-focused leaders that work the levers of the system, to be replaced by their own kind of bombthrowers to just go berserk at the system, rip out the levers and smash it to pieces for the likes.
I mean, it said pretty much that in the story I posted. Should I have quoted the whole thing?
Truly the case now. IIRC Feinstein is still being wheeled in to the senate to cast votes because she is the tie-breaker in the judiciary committee and republicans have said if dems try to replace her they will block that person from the committee. That happens and Biden cannot get another judge confirmed for at least 16 months.
Exactly. I’m not a doctor but I’m pretty confident that “lightheadedness” is a symptom, not an illness, and therefore you can’t be diagnosed with it. That’s like being “diagnosed” with having arm pain or coughing.
“It’s an amoral aroma. Nasti!”
How long does the governor have to choose a new senator (in Kentucky)? Can he just leave the slot open like the GOP did with Garland?
If it is a definite time period are there any procedural tricks that can be used to keep moving the date back?
Definitely a Lawful Evil kind of guy.
I mentioned this upthread, under the Kentucky statute the Governor has 21 days to make his appointment once he receives the list of three names from the previous Senator’s party. The law is silent on what happens if he fails to take action. The Kentucky Republican Party would probably sue to compel action.
Realistically, though, Beshear isn’t going to leave Kentucky without its equal representation in the Senate for over a year. That might make Senate Democrats happy but it won’t do him any favors with voters back home. Might as well pull the trigger and appoint a Democrat to the seat in spite of the law. And speaking of which: