Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the second time in two weeks has just blocked Democratic bills that would end the shutdown and reopen the government from being voted on.
Leader McConnell, a Republican of Kentucky, has been largely absent from the entire shutdown, instead holding back and allowing voters to blame the President and Congressional Democrats for the shutdown.
“The solution to this is a negotiation between the one person in the country who can sign something into law, the president of the United States, and our Democratic colleagues,” McConnell said Tuesday morning, as The Hill reported.
Leader McConnell has refused to challenge President Trump with any legislation, instead working to support the President at every turn. He says he will not allow any bill to receive a vote if he cannot be certain Trump will sign it.
President Trump has never been put in a position where he has vetoed a bill, and the Senate has never been tested to override a Trump veto.
In December, the Senate voted unanimously to keep the federal government open and running, but the President announced he would not sign the legislation once the House voted on it. The Senate has the ability to override a Trump veto on funding the government.