While Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell continues to mull over whether he's dead or not, his big Schrödinger's Congressman act seems poised to cost Donald Trump his big SAVE Act potentially.
It has been 43 days since Kentucky's biggest embarrassment suffered a severe medical emergency (the details of which are muddy and only get muddier) at his Washington, D.C. home that resulted in McConnell being rushed to the hospital by paramedics and all but never heard from again. McConnell's team, and eventually (allegedly) McConnell himself, have trickled out small, increasingly vague and bizarre statements and photos that only seem to successfully talk around the point while never actually getting to it -- When, if ever, is Mitch McConnell coming back to work?
Trump and his Administration have remained equally vague and unconcerned about the true state of McConnell's health and whether or not he will return to Congress, likely because the idea of a Special Election or a replacement for McConnell chosen by Kentucky's Democratic governor makes them want to pay a second visit to the breakfast.
But push is quickly coming to shove, whether they like it or not.
Although McConnell has voted against Donald Trump's SAVE Act in the past, the Kentucky GOP senator remains a key player in crafting the final draft of Trump's election bill that would stand any chance of passage through the upper chamber.
With respect to McConnell's ongoing absence, Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson said, "That could be an issue. I think there are a lot of issues."
McConnell chairs the Senate Rules Committee, the very same committee that will undoubtedly bear the responsibility of drafting a version of Donald Trump's Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act that could even hope to pass muster when it comes to budget reconciliation, the process that Trump is heavily depending on to be able to pass the horrifying bill.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham's sudden death was problematic enough, as Graham served as a go-between with reconciliation from his position as Chair of the Senate Budget Committee. However, Graham's chair replacement, Johnson, can fill that need easily enough. But McConnell's perpetual position in limbo proves far more difficult to address.
Trump and Republicans have created a "Can't live with them, can't live without them" sort of situation for themselves, as they desperately attempt to strip Kentucky's Blue governor of any power to replace Mitch McConnell, but simultaneously fail to get Mitch back to work to give them any hope of passing reconciliation.
At this point, McConnell is equally just... There, yet not there, and it's undeniably about to come to a brutal head.
