“We had an agreement with the Democrats,” Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto earlier this week, in explaining why he was not going to consider $60 billion in federal spending rescissions as desired by President Donald Trump. After pushing through a mammoth budget-busting omnibus spending bill of $1.3 trillion late last month, McConnell had said he would discuss a rescissions package that Trump wanted.
But apparently that discussion will not take place. “You can’t make an agreement one month and say, ‘OK, we really didn’t mean it,’” McConnell told Cavuto.
Instead, McConnell insisted to Cavuto that he had a deal brokered with the Democrats, and that Trump “and his people were involved in the negotiations, they agreed to it, and he signed the bill.”
When Trump signed the bill, he expressed disgust and shock that his cuts in spending were not added to the bill, vowing never again to sign such a bill.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was also quite pleased with the bill. “The House just voted to rebuild our military, secure our borders, and give our service members their largest pay raise in eight years. But it was the Democrats — the people McConnell had “brokered” a deal with — who appeared to be most pleased with the spending bill.
Congressman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) summed up what the Democrats thought about the bill. “We got about 80 percent of what we were trying to get.”
Most Republicans, on the other hand, except for their leadership, have expressed disgust. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said, “This year we’re looking at a deficit of $750 billion to $1 trillion. Next year, the estimate is $1 trillion or more. I have to wonder if there is any way that we can avoid a national insolvency or bankruptcy.”
Yet, McConnell appears more concerned with good relations with the minority party Democrats than he does with his relationship with members of his own party or the president in the White House — also of his own party. Which helps explain why the Republicans are technically in the majority in the House and Senate, but the minority Democrats get 80 percent of what they want.
Photo of Mitch McConnell at podium: senate.gov
