Mitch McConnell’s legacy: A ‘grim reaper’ for US bipartisanship?
Al JazeeraMcConnell is set to step down as the longest-serving Senate leader. Before McConnell’s leadership, Smith said the Senate only saw “occasional minority obstruction”. “Mitch recognized, as did I, that since judges enjoy life tenure, the impact of judicial nominations can be felt for thirty years or more,” Trump wrote in a forward to McConnell’s memoir. Already, McConnell — a childhood polio survivor — issued a public warning to incoming administration officials to “steer clear of” efforts “to undermine public confidence” in “proven cures”, lest they scuttle their Senate confirmation hearings. McConnell, Okun added, is unlikely to take on the role of dissenter — “only when Donald Trump pursues the most aggressive actions which would run counter to the US national interest”.