Congress
Senate GOP leaders say they’ve spoken with Mitch McConnell
Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso said the two leaders spoke this week with Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has been hospitalized since June 14.
Disclosure of the calls — with Thune Monday and Barrasso Tuesday — comes amid rampant speculation from conservative influencers online about McConnell’s health and little detail from the Kentucky Republican’s own office about the reason for his hospitalization or his condition.
Thune and McConnell “had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security,” a spokesperson for the majority leader said in a statement Tuesday.
Kate Noyes, a spokesperson for Barrasso, said the No. 2 leader and McConnell “had a lengthy conversation early this afternoon,” speaking by phone for roughly 20 minutes.
“They caught up about the latest news impacting Senate races, the Graham Platner scandal, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits,” as well as the Senate agenda, she added. “Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”
Both men previously said they had spoken to McConnell in the immediate aftermath of his hospitalization. In addition to Thune and Barrasso, Scott Jennings, a longtime McConnell adviser who is now a BLN commentator, posted on social media Tuesday that he had also spoken with McConnell.
A spokesperson for McConnell did not directly respond to a Tuesday request for a status update on the senator’s health. McConnell staffers did email news outlets to flag the calls with Thune, Barrasso and Jennings, and pointed reporters back to a Thursday statement that said McConnell “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff.”
That was the latest in a series of occasional updates from McConnell’s staff that have said nothing about why he was hospitalized or remains under medical care.
Suggestions online that McConnell could be in grave condition exploded over the past week after news outlets reported on D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services radio traffic that indicated a person at the former GOP leader’s address was found unconscious and required cardiac resuscitation.
House Republican leaders are pushing ahead with a vote on a stopgap funding bill Tuesday — even if the vote could mean freezing the House floor for the rest of the week.
Several House Republicans angry over how GOP leaders have handled the spending legislation are threatening to tank a subsequent vote on a procedural measure setting up debate on several additional bills. The funding bill is expected to get a vote first under special fast-track procedures, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said GOP leaders will “handle each vote as it happens.”
“We know [procedural votes] are always difficult with a small, small majority, and you look at attendance and all those things, but at the end of the day, the [continuing resolution], it’s the first vote,” Scalise told reporters Tuesday. “That’s really important to avoid a government shutdown, and then we’ll … take it from there.”
Many of the Republicans threatening a floor revolt are upset with a provision delaying a hemp products ban. That includes Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, a former Rules Committee chair, who said he plans to vote against the procedural measure that the panel advanced on Monday.
The Texas Republican is not typically one to defy leadership and said “if they took out the language on this hemp issue” he would support the rule.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, also said he plans to vote against the bill, as did Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who sent a letter to top Republicans arguing the continuing resolution would extend taxpayer dollars for abortion services. Other GOP hard-liners, such as Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas, were noncommittal on the key vote.
House GOP leaders appear to be watching the absences on both sides. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said in an interview Tuesday “we’ll see” if the rule is adopted, pointing to the dozens of members who skipped votes Monday night.
Several Republicans are already speculating the House could head home early if the stopgap funding bill is passed and holdouts stymie the rest of the legislative agenda. So far, GOP leaders aren’t indicating a change of plans.
“We’re moving forward to continue working as long as we can keep getting the agenda moved,” Scalise said. “We have other things we want to do.”
Speaker Mike Johnson told a closed-door meeting of senior House Republicans on Monday night that he met with GOP megadonor Elon Musk in Austin last week, according to two people who were in the room, as House GOP leaders hope he’ll bolster their campaign efforts in key battlegrounds.
Blue Light News first reported the planned meeting between Johnson, Musk and some other Republicans last week. Republicans involved in the matter are hopeful Musk will start unleashing a portion of the $100 million-plus he reportedly plans to spend on the midterms to boost House Republicans through his super PAC, America PAC — likely in the form of field organizing support and other resources.
Johnson didn’t say in the Monday meeting whether Musk made any commitments during the meeting in Austin last Friday, which came as the speaker barnstormed Texas battleground races that will help determine House control next year. But Republicans in the room took it as a suggestion Musk could unleash spending on their behalf, according to the two people.
A spokesperson for America PAC did not respond to an inquiry. A spokesperson for Johnson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
How much trouble is the GOP leadership floor plan in? Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, a former Rules Committee chair who is not in the habit of defying party leaders, said he plans to vote against the procedural measure advanced by the panel last night. He cited concerns about the delay of a hemp products ban in the short-term spending bill leaders want to pass Tuesday.
“I think they’ve got to change it,” Sessions said. “Let’s just make it a clean [continuing resolution]. I’ll vote for that.”
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