January 1, Mitch McConnell feels GOP wrath

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) received severe backlash from his GOP cohorts last week after he helped Democrats raise the debt limit again, and strategists say it was a wake-up call.

Senate aides and GOP strategists say the minority leader’s reputation took some damage last week when he agreed to a two-month increase of the debt ceiling after insisting for weeks that Democrats would have to do it on their own.

“I think this was a crisis entirely of McConnell’s making when he decided to announce the caucus’s position this summer,” said one anonymous Senate Republican aide. “He created drama and thought it would go a lot differently than he expected and then he blinked.”

“He put his caucus into a tough position,” the aide added. “He prides himself on protecting the caucus from tough votes and that obviously took a major blow.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) publicly criticized McConnell last week.

“I believe Democratic Leader Schumer was on the verge of surrendering, and then, unfortunately … Republicans blinked. I think that was a mistake,” Cruz said.

This situation is likely to make McConnell’s job harder, especially given the public criticisms from former President Trump.

“This puts McConnell in a box canyon where he has to be tough and fight the debt limit,” said GOP strategist Brian Darling. “He lost face during that debate, and now he’s going to have to step up and actually be tougher on the second go on the debt limit and force Democrats to use reconciliation.”

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McConnell gets GOP wake-up call