Trump and McConnell have not spoken since early August
WASHINGTON- President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have ceased communication following an intense phone call earlier this month, according to unnamed sources who spoke with The New York Times on Tuesday.
Sources told The Times that McConnell has privately stated that the fractured relationship in conjunction with recent controversial statements made by the president-pose a serious threat to the Administration’s legislative agenda.
Congress by September 30th must reach an agreement on a spending bill so as to keep the government funded beyond that date. Congress by mid-October must vote to increase the debt ceiling so as to stave off the possibility of credit default.
The contentious phone call came less than two weeks after the Senate narrowly defeated Obamacare repeal legislation. Trump following the vote lashed out at McConnell in a series of Tweets in which he implored the majority leader to try and change Senate filibuster rules as well as hold another repeal vote.
McConnell has said Republicans lack sufficient support to change the filibuster rule. McConnell has also explained that doing so would not have made a difference during the health care debate because three Republicans joined the Senate’s 46 Democrats and two independent members in opposing the legislation.
The Times reported that McConnell has privately expressed extreme frustration over Trump’s recent Charlottesville remarks in which the president suggested moral parity between anti-racist counter-protestors and white nationalists.
Trump made those remarks during an Aug. 15 press conference.
McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Eliane Chao, who is Asian-American, was standing directly beside president during the conference.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.