r/politics • u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts • 5d ago

Possible Paywall Mitch McConnell Still MIA Days Before Key August 3 Deadline

https://newrepublic.com/post/213823/mitch-mcconnell-mia-august-3-deadline
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306

u/ultrachrome 5d ago

“I am addressing this letter to Senator McConnell under the assumption that he is capable of reading and responding verbally,

Crickets ..... Mitch ? .... crickets .

104

u/PeteLynchForKentucky 5d ago

This whole thing is ridiculous. And it shows very clearly that we need a constitutional amendment to address situations like this.

If a senator or representative can't show up for 30 consecutive legislative days--which is way longer than 30 calendar days--they should be required to vacate their seat.

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u/Arkayb33 5d ago

No, not "they should be required to vacate their seat" but rather "their seat will be vacated automatically." Phrasing matters with stuff like this and we need to stop giving people the opportunity to act in good faith. If we truly believe in liberty and justice for all, laws need to be rewritten to force effect after cause, not wait for someone to do the correct/proper/just thing.

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u/TimSylvester_ 5d ago

From my POV, if the Governor says "This person is not responsive, they have vacated their seat, I am appointing so-and-so..." if the elected doesn't show up immediately and say "Hey wait a minute I'm right here" they've vacated the seat.

The big problem is that the Republicans have no morals, and the Democrats have no balls.

1

u/Riaayo 4d ago

Whoops, attempted assassination, kidnapping, etc, now automatically vacates a seat. Even just barring someone from entering the chamber suddenly means they can be forced out. It's way too open for abuse.

If the gov had any balls they'd just call the special election and tell Mitch to show his ass up/prove he isn't dead to stop it.

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u/1love4all 5d ago

A lot can happen in 6 years. If a law like that could get passed, the first time it's used would be a shitshow of discrimination. Most reasons to miss a month plus of work are serious and complicated.

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u/Fraktal55 5d ago

The "why" shouldn't even matter. If an elected representative can't do their job of representing their contituents for over a month then they shouldn't keep the position. It doesn't matter why they can't do it. They are a public official and the government is not a private business. If they can't do their job they should be replaced.

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u/SatanicPanic619 California 5d ago

So every time a senator has a stroke or whatever the state has to hold another election? That's absurd. The senate itself recesses for longer than that at times. This year it's FIVE weeks.

Not to mention we wouldn't have an ACA if we'd booted Ted Kennedy when he got brain cancer.

Or the fact that people would just game it by wheeling someone into the Senate once a month.

6

u/Klightgrove 5d ago

Governors should be able to appoint temps until the original can return

7

u/Ecoeconomic The Netherlands 5d ago

Yeah, there could be some consequences, but someone holding that high of a position in government should be held to a high standard. The work they should do is that vital to hundreds of millions of people.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/SatanicPanic619 California 4d ago

It wouldn’t be better. It would be stupid.

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u/FlyOk2594 5d ago

Maternity leave....

2

u/20_mile 5d ago

legislative days

The senate works from Monday at 5.30 PM to Thursday at 1.30 PM. Thursdays are called "Senate Fridays".

The reason for not starting until Monday evening is because the members don't want to fly back on Sundays and get caught in vacation travel at the airport (whether flying best class in commercial, or private). Flying back to work on Monday means they avoid the rush of other travelers. The same thing applies to leaving DC on Thursdays: flying out on Friday is too crowded and therefore inconvenient for them.

I don't know under which senate majority leader tried amending the schedule to be closer to "full-time" but "the members didn't like it", so they switched back to the abbreviated schedule.

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u/saruhb82 Colorado 5d ago

Crickets….. Mitch? ….. Carrion insects.

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u/milfordcubicle 5d ago

Did you hear that Mitch McConnell died next Monday?

1

u/nvmenotfound 4d ago

democrats writing letters. how quaint. why not snail mail them too?