Mitch McConnell Thinks He's Boss Of Joe Biden

Biden Cabinet appointees should wear at least five pieces of flair.

Now that it's looking fairly likely (but not certain!) that Democrats have won the White House but not the Senate — we're waiting patiently like a common Nevada registrar of voters to see what happens in Georgia with Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — it's time to be very worried about just how badly Mitch McConnell and the Republicans in the Senate will obstruct Biden. Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman warnedthe day after the election (that was yesterday? Shit.) that the first two years of the Biden administration will look disturbingly like the last two years of the Obama administration, only without the legislative achievements Obama managed in his first six. [I SAID THAT TOO DOK, JERK. — Editrix] 

For starters, you can take all those meticulously prepared policy plans Biden and his team devised during the campaign and toss them in the trash. There will be no expansion of health coverage, no aggressive legislation to address climate change, no move toward universal child care, no increase in the minimum wage, no new Voting Rights Act and no infrastructure spending. None of it.

Yep, probably, and while he's at it, Waldman says, AS DID WONKETTE, McConnell will likely block any new coronavirus stimulus, because it's all to Republicans' benefit if the economy stays in the shitter and the GOP can then say Biden got nothing done.

Shame on Biden for being so partisan!

Today, Axios reports that "people familiar with the matter" say McConnell will extend his Because We Can agenda right down to more or less telling Biden who Mitch will allow to be in Biden's Cabinet. Pick moderates, not progressives, or nobody gets confirmed. No Stacey Abrams or Susan Rice in the Cabinet, and hell no to Sally Yates as attorney general.

We also learn that a

source close to McConnell tells Axios a Republican Senate would work with Biden on centrist nominees but no "radical progressives" or ones who are controversial with conservatives.

But this could be a real coup for some Democratic moderates — perhaps Doug Jones would be middling enough to be AG, or Chris Coons at State.

All in all, it's a pretty unpleasant prospect, but it looks like what we'll be stuck with, unless some fairly unlikely things fall in place — a surprise number of as-yet-uncounted votes for Cal Cunningham in North Carolina, and/or twin runoff elections in Georgia, with Dems taking both. [The Commenting Rules remain in place, so you Terrible Ones will not be fantasizing in the comments about more extreme possibilities, you ghouls.]

As we've learned, painfully, there are still a lot of things an executive branch can do without Congress, like improving fuel economy standards or rolling back much of Trump's immigration fuckery, so there's that. And as Maddowblog's Steve Benen points out, 

It's not yet clear what Senate Republicans would say or do if a Democratic administration adopted Donald Trump's approach, which has featured the appointment of "acting" cabinet officials, circumventing the Senate confirmation process.

They'd probably be aghast at such disrespect for Norms and Traditions. Fuck 'em.

Also, Mitch would like fresh warm sand delivered to his Senate office twice a week, and a broader array of greens to snack on before he even thinks of letting Biden have a secretary of State. Any iceberg lettuce and Biden can say goodbye to filling any federal court vacancies.

Haha, we like to make little jokes about McConnell being a literal turtle, but in all seriousness, Biden will not be allowed to fill any court vacancies, ever, the end.

[ WaPo / Axios ]

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