1/3/2019
Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the Senate, is calling on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to stand up to President Trump and help end the partial government shutdown.
As the shutdown entered its 13th day, McConnell has held to his position that he won’t hold a vote on a spending bill to reopen it unless Trump is willing to sign it.
“Listen to Mitch McConnell for goodness sakes: He’s waiting for a permission slip from Donald Trump to be a leader in the Senate,†Durbin told Hill.TV Thursday morning.
“You know what he ought to do is appeal to his members — do you want to sit down and try to solve this problem by using our power in the Senate?†Durbin continued, adding that McConnell “didn’t say that — no, no, no — ‘I’ll wait until I get the call from Donald Trump as to what I ought to do.’ That is not serving his party or this nation.â€
Durbin couldn’t say when the federal government will reopen for business amid the showdown over Trump’s demand for funding for his proposed border wall.
“It’s up to the president; it’s really in his hands,†Durbin said. "There's a way to end this, the president can do it immediately. We offered to him yesterday to take the Republican-passed spending bills for eight different federal agencies and departments and to enact them today so that would be the end of the shutdown — he said no."
—Molly K. Hooper
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/423729-durbin-presses-mcconnell-to-take-lead-amid-shutdown
