Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) isn’t optimistic about how Republicans will fare if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the November election and Democrats keep control of the Senate.
According to Semafor, McConnell is particularly worried about Harris’ stated goal of abolishing the filibuster. The vice president called for an end to the procedure in order to pass legislation restoring abortion rights taken away after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Kentucky Republican told the outlet that the finality of ending the filibuster would mean there’s little Republicans could do to stop Democrats’ agenda.
“What I concluded is, whenever they think it’s getting in the way of something they really want to do, they’re going to break the rules,” McConnell said. “And once you do it once, it’s over.”
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), who is one of the red state incumbents Democrats are spending large sums to reelect this year, said he wanted to reform the filibuster instead of eliminate it outright. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) would only say the next session of Congress — which gavels in on January 3, 2025 — would discuss the possibility. However, McConnell insisted it’s safe to assume that Democrats are largely supportive of Harris’ position, given that she’s now openly running on it.
“They’re all committed to it now, because Chuck has made them take a public position. Every Democratic challenger, I’m told, running for the Senate is taking the same position,” McConnell said. “I think they fully intend to do it if they can.”