The Republican Party Is Falling Apart As Congressman Calls For Mitch McConnell To Step Down

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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) who is also a Senate candidate called for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to step down after Republicans failed to pass an Obamacare repeal bill.

Video:

Mo Brooks calling 4 @SenateMajLdr 2 step down this a.m. Says "The leadership at the top is responsible" & gotta go https://t.co/e4QTwTfu8r

— Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) July 28, 2017

Brooks urged Senate Republicans not to quit on Obamacare repeal, and added, “I hope they won’t quit, and if they’re gonna quit well then, by golly, maybe they ought to start at the top with Mitch McConnell leaving his position, and letting somebody new, somebody bold, somebody conservative take the reins, they can come up with a plan that can get through the United States Senate, and serve the needs of the American people.”

When Brooks was asked by CNN’s Chris Cuomo if he thought the problem was leadership, he answered, “Unquestionably, the leadership at the top is responsible. The buck stops there.”

Trump supporters, like Brooks, have decided to define the top of leadership as Mitch McConnell, not Donald Trump. The bad news for people who want to blame McConnell is that he is their best shot at unity. The problem with the healthcare bill was leadership, but it wasn’t McConnell’s. It was the lack of leadership from the White House.

There is also more than a bit of delusion in Brooks’ belief that a more conservative leader could get a bill through the Senate. There is a deep ideological divide in the Senate between the moderates and conservatives. If leadership got more conservative, the odds are high that nothing would get through the Senate, health care or otherwise.

All of the problems within the Congressional Republican caucuses that were papered over by the unifying force of opposition to Obama are being exposed now that the GOP is in charge.

As usual, the first Republican reaction is to replace the person, not the policy.

The problem isn’t Mitch McConnell. It’s that the American people want to keep Obamacare.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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