Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is pushing back on critics from within his conference calling for his ouster after the Senate border deal collapsed this week.
A group of Republican senators took a victory lap on Tuesday after the deal collapsed, with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) saying Senate GOP leadership was “out of touch with Republican voters.” In an interview with Politico, McConnell reminded his vocal critics that they had a chance to oust him as the top Senate Republican following the 2022 election.
“I’ve had a small group of persistent critics the whole time I’ve been in this job. They had their shot,” McConnell said.
Following a disastrous 2022 election, in which the GOP lost a seat in the Senate after believing it could win back control of the chamber, McConnell faced a challenge to his leadership role. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) ran against McConnell for Senate minority leader. McConnell survived the challenge in a 37-10 vote in November 2022.
The longtime Senate GOP leader also criticized some of his Republican colleagues, arguing they had pushed for a border deal. McConnell conceded that it would require approval from Democrats, who control the White House and the Senate.
“The reason we’ve been talking about the border is because they wanted to, the persistent critics,” McConnell said. “You can’t pass a bill without dealing with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate.”
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The details of the Senate border bill were announced on Sunday after months of negotiations led by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), James Lankford (R-OK), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). Several Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate heavily criticized the deal, saying they would not support it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the bill would be “dead on arrival” in the House, and McConnell eventually conceded that the border deal had no chance of passing.
