WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress returns for the fall session with pressure mounting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to address gun violence, election security and other issues.
The Kentucky Republican leader has promised a “Grim Reaper” strategy of burying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s legislative priorities from House Democrats. But without a robust GOP agenda it could prove unsatisfying for lawmakers facing restive voters ahead of 2020 elections. President Donald Trump has not fully explained what he’d like to see Congress accomplish, particularly on gun control. That leaves McConnell mainly focused on confirming the White House’s administrative and judicial nominees. Big-ticket legislative victories are highly unlikely as the legislative calendar folds into campaign season. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut complains that the Senate has become little more than an expensive lunch club.