Minority Leader McConnell says he’ll block cutting off debate too quickly.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky stated he would block a bipartisan infrastructure package if the leadership cuts off debate on amendments too quickly. He said this in response to a plan by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to wrap up the $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure this week. The majority party had a plan to vote Thursday to end debate on carefully negotiated legislation and pass it before leaving town for the Friday funeral of former Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming who died following a bicycle accident last week.
Senator McConnell stated, “This is an extremely important bipartisan bill. There’s an excellent chance it will be a bipartisan success story for the country, and to try to truncate an amendment process on something of this magnitude, I think it’s a mistake.” Senator McConnell wants the chamber to continue debating the bill and amendments requested into next week. The text of the 2,700-page measure was only released Sunday, and lawmakers have not been provided sufficient time to digest it, he said.
Senator Schumer said the Senate will finish both the infrastructure bill and the budget resolution “before we leave for August recess. The longer it takes to finish this bill, the longer we will be here,” he said.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Senators Schumer and McConnell to work out the discussions on the infrastructure bill.
- For senators and their aides and staff to have the time to read the bill before voting on it.
- For wisdom for members of the Senate as they consider the budget bill that Senator Schumer wants to include with the infrastructure package.
Sources: Washington Examiner, The Hill
