What Mitch McConnell Actually Thinks about the Omnibus Bill

Mollie Hemingway’s latest piece at the Federalist lambasts Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, saying he’s “the single biggest obstacle to GOP success.” To illustrate her point, Hemingway employs a clip of McConnell, cut by strategist Greg Price, to suggest the minority leader is more interested in the welfare of Ukrainians than Americans:

He’s also happy to spend $1.7 trillion on left-wing policies:

The clips are deceptive, and the article that relies on them is foolish.

Here’s the full statement (bold to indicate important missing chunks):

Well, we’re moving toward completing the business for the year, and I think in a highly productive way — from the point of view of the vast majority of Senate Republicans. This omnibus bill — it’ll be on the floor — provides a real dollar increase for the Defense baseline and a real dollar cut for the non-Defense baseline — if you exclude veterans. That is absolutely critical and breaking the pattern we’ve had in the past when we’ve ended up in one of these situations where every time Republicans tried to get an increase in defense, we would in effect have to pay a ransom to the Democrats on the domestic side, wholly aside from the needs of the country. So let’s step back and say, “What are the real needs of the country right now?” In the defense part of our expenditures, making sure the Defense Department can deal with the major threats coming from Russia and China — providing assistance for the Ukrainians to defeat the Russians. That’s the number one priority for the United States right now — according to most Republicans. That’s sort of how we see the challenges confronting the country at the moment. So admittedly, I’m pretty proud of the fact that with a Democratic president, a Democratic House, and Democratic Senate, we were able to achieve through this omnibus spending bill, essentially all of our priorities.

McConnell is lauding his party’s success in securing real-dollar adjustments that benefit Defense while not surrendering to Dems on domestic spending. Given that his party is effectively in the minority in both houses of Congress, Republicans should get what wins they can. Some GOP House members suggest a continuing resolution (a short-term deal) that would push the budget process into the next Congress. Developing a budget with a minuscule advantage in the House and a Democrat-controlled Senate is a recipe for holding the bag come a government shutdown. Many Republicans have failed upward, but can they do it collectively? I think not.

Mitch is making the best of a bad deal; Hemingway is making the worst of a bad clip.