The Morning Plum: Mitch McConnell Joins Far Right Fringe on Guns
Yesterday, during President Obama’s emotional plea in Newtown for action on guns, Mitch McConnell announced that he would join a group of far right Senators in using a procedural tactic to block the proposal from even being debated on the Senate floor. McConnell’s move is generating much chatter this morning.
But unpack McConnell’s move even just a little bit, and it’s revealed (for now, at least) to be an empty threat — with no clear implications for the outcome of this battle.
For one thing, McConnell’s office is only saying he’ll block the current Harry Reid bill from being debated. That contains Chuck Schumer’s language on expanded background checks, and not the compromise proposal being negotiated by a bipartisan group of Senators. The Post’s Rachel Weiner and Ed O’Keefe asked McConnell’s office whether he would filibuster an eventual compromise, and got this answer:
McConnell aides wouldn’t say whether he would support a modified version of the bill that includes new language negotiated by moderate senators working on a potential compromise.
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