Mitch McConnell

Republican senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is accusing Democrat Harry Reid, the majority leader, of wanting to "break the rules to change the rules." This is part a "systematic effort to marginalize the minority," according to McConnell.

Senate aides confirm that Republican senator Mitch McConnell has been reelected minority leader in the Senate. Conservative stalwarts Pat Toomey and Marco Rubio spoke in favor of McConnell's nomination at the closed door session.

Here are excerpts of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell's address, which he'll deliver tonight at the Republican convention: 

On the Senate floor right now, just before Congress breaks away for summer recess, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is imploring Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow the full Senate to vote on Obamacare. This is the fourth time McConnell has asked Reid for a vote since the Supreme Court decide to uphold Obamacare earlier this summer, but Reid is once again expected to prevent the top Republican in the Senate from holding a vote.

This morning on the Senate floor, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, pledged to block Republican efforts to vote on the repeal of Obamacare and tax cuts:

President Obama has earned much criticism for preemptively challenging the Supreme Court's authority to strike down Obamacare's individual mandate. And deservedly so; his glib ignorance of constitutional history deserves a firm response.

The Obama campaign sent out an email today asking supporters to urge Congress to at least vote on the president’s jobs bill almost immediately after Democratic majority leader Harry Reid blocked a vote on the bill in the Senate.

President Obama arrived in Cincinnati Thursday afternoon to tout his newest bill meant to stimulate the economy with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment for job creation. The Obama team chose the “functionally obsolete” Brent Spence Bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio, and the still concrete trucks at the local Hilltop Concrete company for the event’s symbolic backdrop. The president arrived in Cincinnati for two reasons: one, to gain support in the backyards of two chief Republican critics—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio, and two, he appeared on the northern banks of the river in swing state Ohio in an early quest for electoral votes in a key battleground.

For a while now, Obama's been mentioning in speeches that there are free-trade agreements that need to be ratified as away to create jobs and spur growth... while blaming Republicans for the hold up.

House speaker John Boehner has chosen Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas to be co-chair of the joint select committee on deficit reduction, or the so-called supercommittee. Reps. Dave Camp and Fred Upton, both of Michigan, were also selected by Boehner to represent the House Republicans on the supercommittee. Meanwhile, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has chosen fellow senators Jon Kyl of Arizona, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Rob Portman of Ohio as the GOP Senate representatives.

Members of Congress and their staff who know and care about defense are somewhere between alarmed and panicked at the emerging shape of the debt ceiling deal. (Consider this amazing on-the-record statement by Senator Joe Lieberman’s communications director to Jennifer Rubin just a few minutes ago: “Senator Lieberman is very concerned about rumors that the d

Last night, Speaker Boehner toyed with adding a gimmicky balanced budget amendment provision to the Republican budget bill in order to try to get the final handful of votes he needs for passage. He thought better of this last night, and didn’t do so. He should continue to avoid pointless and embarrassing gimmicks to try to secure a last-gasp victory on the House floor.