McConnell’s old-school style could make him GOP conservatives’ next target

Reporting from Washington —  After Republicans swept into power this year in the Senate, new Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to get Congress working again.

No more crises. No more filibuster games. And, most adamantly, no more government shutdowns.

But with the abrupt resignation of House Speaker John A. Boehner, McConnell’s pragmatic goals are suddenly looking like political liabilities.

Boehner’s surprise move not only emboldened the party’s conservative members, who take credit for forcing the Ohio Republican out, but right-leaning groups are stepping up their attacks on McConnell as the next target in their battle against GOP leadership.

The same voter frustration that toppled the speaker and has powered the rise of outsider presidential candidates like Donald Trump is now pressuring McConnell to more aggressively confront President Obama on conservative priorities.

The GOP leader’s old-school strategy of getting the Senate back to “regular order” with committee hearings and amendment votes is too timid for conservatives who just kicked his top colleague out the door and prefer bold, unconventional methods.

“Ditch Mitch,” read one appeal from McConnell’s longtime adversary, Senate Conservatives Fund, which was giving out free bumper stickers Monday with the slogan. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a presidential candidate, has called on McConnell to resign.

“Conservatives are unhappy,” said Sen. Rand Paul, another Republican presidential contender, who has an on-again, off-again working alliance with his fellow Kentuckian, on Fox News. “The grass-roots says, ‘Why did we elect you, then, if you’re not going to stand up and take some risks?’”

In many ways, McConnell, like Boehner, rose to the job just as the political ground shifted beneath him.

Both men are old-fashioned deal makers and professional legislators who have been on the job for decades, and who believe that achievements arrive slowly in Congress, mostly in a political dance of give-and-take with opponents across the aisle.

Those skills, though, are no longer in fashion among party voters who have grown impatient with what they see as endless election-year promises that only fizzle.

Few expect McConnell’s job is on the line since he has more supporters than detractors among Senate Republicans who actually cast leadership votes.

And despite the pressure, Boehner and McConnell are expected this week to shepherd a temporary spending bill through Congress, bypassing conservatives who want a veto showdown with Obama over Planned Parenthood funding. That will assure the government stays open past Wednesday’s fiscal year deadline.

The Senate is expected to give final passage to the measure by Wednesday, with the House likely voting by Wednesday’s midnight deadline.

But the GOP leaders’ compromise with Democrats to keep government running through Dec. 11 only kicks the crisis to the holiday season.

And that puts more pressure on McConnell to confront Obama with a conservative to do-list -- repeal the healthcare law, cut spending, stop Planned Parenthood -- rather than engage in the kind of compromise needed to draw Democratic support from the White House and avert more crises.

On that front, the Kentucky Republican may have won the battle to prevent a government shutdown, but still risks losing the broader war.

As he opened the Senate this week, the first workday after Boehner’s abrupt announcement, McConnell defended his actions.

“A new majority came to office this year with a different outlook on government funding,” said McConnell, who has spent more than 30 years in the Senate.

McConnell outlined the “common sense” approach Republicans had taken this year, which resulted in passing a federal budget and advancing spending bills from committees. It marked the first time since Democrats were in power that Congress passed a budget blueprint.

He has bluntly dismissed calls from conservatives to threaten a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding, calling it an “exercise in futility” since Obama vowed to veto such a bill and Republicans lack the votes to override. He said temporarily funding the government was not his preference, but was better than the alternative.

“The question before us now,” McConnell said, “is how to keep the government open in the short term, given the realities we face.”

In a move sure to further agitate conservatives, McConnell disclosed Tuesday that he and Boehner had talked with Obama last week about opening a new round of budget talks. Boehner has since said he would like to “clean up the barn” before he leaves, taking care of lingering business.

Boehner’s likely successor, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, is already promising a harder line as he rounds up votes to become speaker -- and is blaming Senate rules for the lack of action on conservative priorities.

“Well, if you watched just the House, we have passed more than 300 bills,” McCarthy said Tuesday on Fox Business News. “The challenge has actually been in the Senate.”

Dan Holler, spokesman for the conservative Heritage Action, said the Republican-led Congress has failed to live up to its potential -- shrugging off the top accomplishments so far, including a bipartisan agreement to fix a long-standing problem with pay rates for Medicare doctors and a short-term highway bill.

“No one has any clue what the Republican Party stands for anymore because congressional leaders refuse to put forward an agenda that draws a contrast with Barack Obama and Democrats,” he said.

“Their goal was to show Americans they could get things done in Washington,” he said. “Republicans didn’t win majorities in the House and Senate to pass a bunch of bills with support of Democrats.”

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