Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not taking a leadership role in ending the government shutdown, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
"McConnell is home in Kentucky, and the senator’s spokesman, Donald Stewart, said it’s up to President Trump and the Democrats to come up with a deal to end the stalemate over funding for Trump’s border wall," The Post explained. "In other words, in McConnell’s view, it’s not on him."
The newspaper reported that "McConnell is dealing with an unreliable partner in the White House."
The Senate had unanimously passed a bill to keep government open, before President Donald Trump withdrew his promised support for the comprise.
McConnell's former chief of staff explained his political position on the shutdown.
“The difference between his position now and his position over the last 10 years is he was representing the party that had the impasse in final negotiations, so it was incumbent on him to find a way out of the impasse,” said Josh Holmes. “So when people say McConnell should come in and negotiate a way out of this, they’re asking him to negotiate against himself.”
