Agree to Disagree: In his last term, Mitch McConnell will not join the Trump resistance | Opinion
Welcome to the third installment of Agree to Disagree, in which I discuss topics with people on different sides of the political spectrum. This time around, I emailed with Tres Watson, former spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky, founder of Capitol Reins Public Relations, and founder and host of the Kentucky Politics Weekly podcast, about our Senior Sen. Mitch McConnell as he ends his long tenure in the U.S. Senate facing a very different Republican Party than the one he helped create. It’s been lightly edited for space. Updated: On Thursday, Feb. 20, McConnell officially announced he would not seek re-election.
Linda Blackford: Hi Tres, thanks for agreeing to disagree with me, this time on the subject of our senior Sen. Mitch McConnell. Whenever he has a fall (or two), people start planning their retrospectives, but I won’t count him out until he actually leaves the Capitol. So, how should Mitch deal with the three-week disaster of President Elon Musk and his helper, Donald Trump?
If we look past the fact that many, including myself, blame Mitch for not getting on board with Trump’s second impeachment, thus getting us to this point, we see someone who has stood up to Trump on things like aid to Ukraine, then vote for all of Trump’s terrible appointees so far. What is his strategy and what should it be in what most assume will be his last year in office?
Tres Watson: Of course, Linda, always a pleasure.
Sen. McConnell is going to be interesting to watch for the next two years, assuming he’s retiring. For the first time in decades, he’s not the Republican Leader. When you’re leader of a caucus, party, or really any organization, you can’t always say or do what you really think, and I think that was especially true for Sen. McConnell. He was Republican Leader first, the senior Senator from Kentucky second, and Mitch McConnell third. He did what was best for the caucus in terms of both legislative and political success.
No one is a better vote counter than him and he knew exactly how much wiggle room he had at all times so, like with his opposing impeachment, the votes weren’t going to be there to convict no matter what he did so he pivoted to keep his powder dry.
Now though, he’s got more room to operate and speak his mind; but he’s not totally untethered. Does he like Trump? Clearly not. However, he is still a conservative, so he’s going to agree with a lot of things Trump does. When it comes to the things he doesn’t like, he still has a responsibility to the Commonwealth to represent them and make sure Kentucky is well taken care of.
It would appear to me that he has chosen foreign policy and national defense as one area where he feels the risk of speaking out outweighs the value of getting in line. He may find other areas to maneuver, but, at the end of the day, he’s smart enough to know there’s a cost to be paid each time he speaks out in opposition. I, for one, would much rather have him in the room as a voice of sanity so there’s little value to him going totally rogue and losing his seat at the table. That said, I suspect you’ll see him being a contrary voice far more than we’re used to as he works on carving out the final piece of his legacy.
LB: Does McConnell have a seat at the MAGA table? That’s not at all clear to me. I’m actually shocked by how many of those kinds of Republicans appear to oppose him. Not very grateful of them. And now Trump is mad because McConnell voted against three of the worst Cabinet picks in history: Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But if we assume — like so many wanna-be candidates appear to be doing — that he will indeed step down in 2027, then I’m curious what he thinks he is fighting for.
As he has been the creator of the modern Republican party, why would he not stand against the most absurd and dangerous parts of this apparently untrammeled Trump administration? Why not go out with some dignity? What does he have left to accomplish?
TW: Again, don’t forget, he IS a conservative. I think the Senator is a lot like me in that there’s something in most of Trump’s moves that I like. But sometimes it kind of turns into your uncle who likes to tell dirty jokes but takes it one step too far and makes it creepy. “Haha, that’s funny…..ok, ew, never mind, now it’s gross.” Cut spending wasteful spending? Yes! Eliminate all of USAID and stop making the penny? Umm, hold up now?
Is he going to suddenly become MAGA? No, but playing the game keeps him in the room. Sometimes it’s not about what you pass or what you stop, it’s about shaping what’s inevitable and I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more shaping things in Washington right now than Sen. McConnell.
As far as what he’s fighting for, based on what I’ve heard from him at a variety of events over the past 6-8 months, it’s almost all been foreign policy directed. Mitch McConnell is someone who believes democracy is good and that the United States should be a global force for that good and if he can only pick one fight to make his last stand, I think it’s going to be that one.
LB: Yes, I feel as though McConnell would be a hard no on the constitutional crises we are now observing. When and if the Supreme Court weighs in on the power of the purse, it seems like it would be useful if a senior statesman could stand up and say this is not a monarchy.
It would also be useful for him to point out how much Kentucky depends on all this federal aid that is now being cut so recklessly. Children going without lunch seems as important as bourbon tariffs, if not more. McConnell has always crowed about his help in bringing NIH funding to state universities, it would be useful for him to point out the important research being done at those schools that could be down the drain because Elon Musk thinks it’s woke. But enough from ole liberal me. What do you think?
TW: We have a ton of infrastructure needs in Kentucky. Even beyond horses and bourbon, Kentucky is a logistics state. First and foremost is doing what he’s always done and making sure Kentucky gets its fair share (or more than its fair share) of money for roads, bridges, locks, dams, ports, and airports.
Second, we are an export state, whether it’s cars, bourbon, horses, agriculture, coal, aerospace (most people don’t know we are a top 3 aerospace production state), or even Post-it Notes or bowling balls, making sure our products have fair access to international markets is vital.
Third, we have large military footprints in the state, especially at Fort Campbell and Ft Knox. Making sure the military installations in Kentucky have what they need to operate, grow, and defend the nation, is important.
LB: But as Trump tries to dismantle all of those projects funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, and the bipartisan infrastructure bill (which Mitch voted for) what will McConnell do? I’m heartened that he voted no on Tulsi Gabbard, calling out her “alarming lapses in judgment,” and RFK Jr. as he talked about his own childhood polio and the miracles of vaccines. Now as we watch Putin and Trump back Ukraine into a corner, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, he can or will do.
In the end, my opinion of Mitch remains the same: Someone who did a lot for Kentucky, but whose personal ambition and desire for power caused too much irreparable harm, from campaign finance to the Supreme Court to Trump. Sadly, he will still stand head and shoulders above any of the people now jockeying to replace him.
TW: Personal ambition for power or limitless dedication to his core beliefs? I think Sen. McConnell’s career has been marked by an almost fanatical devotion to an originalist view of the Constitution and a belief in the United States as a force for good, two things I wholeheartedly support.
The thing I’m most interested in watching moving forward, and it plays into your question about the Inflation Reduction Act, is the impact the federal judiciary, which the Senator helped totally reshape over the past decade, will have on Donald Trump’s policies. The courts, and especially the Supreme Court, now largely share Sen. McConnell’s views of the Constitution and the separation of powers, which is at the crux of the debate: who controls the budget, Congress or the President?
If they maintain consistency in their rulings and judicial philosophy, and I have no reason to doubt they will, then we may well be seeing an end to rule by executive order; which is a good thing regardless of who is in the White House.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM.
