Mitch McConnell

====Obama====
As the leading Republican senator, McConnell confronted and pressured other Republican senators who were willing to negotiate with Democrats and the Obama administration.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/health-care-reform-and-american-politics-9780190262044?cc=is&lang=en&|title=Health Care Reform and American Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know|last1=Jacobs|first1=Lawrence|last2=Skocpol|first2=Theda|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780190262044|edition=Third|location=Oxford, New York|pages=85–86, 195|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-date=June 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628005402/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/health-care-reform-and-american-politics-9780190262044?cc=is&lang=en&|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Purdue University]] political scientist Bert A. Rockman, "pure party line voting has been evident now for some time&nbsp;... but rarely has the tactic of 'oppositionism' been so boldly stated as McConnell did."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rockman|first=Bert A. |date=October 10, 2012|title=The Obama Presidency: Hope, Change, and Reality|journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=93|issue=5 |pages=1065–1080 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00921.x |issn=0038-4941}}</ref> According to [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]] legal scholar [[Sanford Levinson]], McConnell learned that obstruction and Republican unity were the optimal ways to ensure Republican gains in upcoming elections after he observed how Democratic cooperation with the Bush administration on [[No Child Left Behind Act|No Child Left Behind]] and [[Medicare Part D]] helped Bush's [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 re-election]].<ref name="Levinson-2012">{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/framed-9780199890750?cc=us&lang=en&|title=Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance|last=Levinson|first=Sanford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780199890750|location=Oxford, New York|page=234|access-date=October 8, 2018|archive-date=October 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010131533/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/framed-9780199890750?cc=us&lang=en&|url-status=live}}</ref> Levinson noted, "McConnell altogether rationally&nbsp;... concluded that Republicans have nothing to gain, as a political party, from collaborating in anything that the president could then claim as an achievement."<ref name="Levinson-2012" /> A number of political scientists, historians, and legal scholars have characterized McConnell's obstructionism and [[constitutional hardball]] as contributors to democratic erosion in the United States.<ref>Multiple sources:
* {{Cite book|url=http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Amnesia/Jacob-S-Hacker/9781451667837|title=American Amnesia|last1=Hacker|first1=Jacob|last2=Pierson|first2=Paul|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2017|isbn=9781451667837|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-date=November 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118185320/http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Amnesia/Jacob-S-Hacker/9781451667837|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo28381225.html|title=How to Save a Constitutional Democracy|last1=Ginsburg|first1=Tom|last2=Huq|first2=Aziz|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2019|page=126|access-date=December 13, 2018|archive-date=December 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215174114/https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo28381225.html|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite news|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/10/25/suffocation-of-democracy|title=The Suffocation of Democracy|last=Browning|first=Christopher R.|work=The New York Review of Books|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-date=October 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005120644/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/10/25/suffocation-of-democracy/|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674046832|title=The Promise of Party in a Polarized Age|last=Muirhead|first=Russell|date=September 8, 2014 |publisher=Harvard University Press|page=254|isbn=9780674046832 |access-date=March 14, 2019|archive-date=October 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008151351/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674046832|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Levitsky-2018" /><ref name="Mann-2017" /><ref name="Mounk-2018" />

In October 2010, McConnell said "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Asked whether this meant "endless, or at least frequent, confrontation with the president", McConnell clarified that "if [Obama is] willing to meet us halfway on some of the biggest issues, it's not inappropriate for us to do business with him."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/when-did-mcconnell-say-he-wanted-to-make-obama-a-one-term-president/2012/09/24/79fd5cd8-0696-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html|title=When did McConnell say he wanted to make Obama a 'one-term president'?|author=Kessler, Glenn|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 25, 2012|access-date=September 14, 2014|archive-date=August 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822191007/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/when-did-mcconnell-say-he-wanted-to-make-obama-a-one-term-president/2012/09/24/79fd5cd8-0696-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, "Facing off against Obama, [McConnell] worked to deny even minimal Republican support for major presidential initiatives&nbsp;— initiatives that were, as a rule, in keeping with the moderate model of decades past, and often with moderate Republican stances of a few years past."<ref name="amnesia">{{Cite book|url=http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Amnesia/Jacob-S-Hacker/9781451667837|title=American Amnesia|last1=Hacker|first1=Jacob|last2=Pierson|first2=Paul|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2017|isbn=9781451667837|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-date=November 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118185320/http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Amnesia/Jacob-S-Hacker/9781451667837|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted early during Obama's administration that "on the major issues&nbsp;— not just health care, but financial regulation and the economic stimulus package, among others&nbsp;— Mr. McConnell has held Republican defections to somewhere between minimal and nonexistent, allowing him to slow the Democratic agenda if not defeat aspects of it."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/us/politics/17mcconnell.html|title=McConnell Strategy Shuns Bipartisanship|last=Nagourney|first=[[Carl Hulse]] and Adam|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 17, 2010 |access-date=October 5, 2018|language=en|archive-date=March 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330103528/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/us/politics/17mcconnell.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Republican caucus threatened repeatedly to force the United States to default on its debt, McConnell saying he had learned from the [[United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2011|2011 debt-ceiling crisis]] that "it's a hostage that's worth ransoming."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/605403/fault-lines-by-kevin-m-kruse/9780393088663|title=Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974|last1=Kruse|first1=Kevin|last2=Zelizer|first2=Julian|publisher=W.W. Norton|year=2019|access-date=January 14, 2019|archive-date=January 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210912/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/605403/fault-lines-by-kevin-m-kruse/9780393088663|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fishkin-2018">{{Cite news|url=https://columbialawreview.org/content/asymmetric-constitutional-hardball/|title=Asymmetric Constitutional Hardball|last1=Fishkin|first1=Joseph|date=2018|work=Columbia Law Review|last2=Pozen|first2=David E.|archive-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119095233/https://columbialawreview.org/content/asymmetric-constitutional-hardball/|url-status=live}}</ref>

McConnell worked to delay and obstruct [[Affordable Care Act|health care reform]] and [[Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act|banking reform]], two of the most notable pieces of legislation that Democrats navigated through Congress early in Obama's tenure.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442258723/Party-and-Procedure-in-the-United-States-Congress-Second-Edition|title=Party and Procedure in the United States Congress, Second Edition|last=Koger|first=Gregory|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2016|page=223|access-date=October 11, 2018|archive-date=October 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011214754/https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442258723/Party-and-Procedure-in-the-United-States-Congress-Second-Edition|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Schickler-2011">{{Cite journal|last1=Schickler|first1=Eric|last2=Wawro|first2=Gregory J.|date=January 3, 2011|title=What the Filibuster Tells Us About the Senate|journal=The Forum|language=en|volume=9|issue=4|doi=10.2202/1540-8884.1483|s2cid=144114653|issn=1540-8884}}</ref> Political scientists noted that "by slowing action even on measures supported by many Republicans, McConnell capitalized on the scarcity of floor time, forcing Democratic leaders into difficult trade-offs concerning which measures were worth pursuing.&nbsp;... Slowing the Senate's ability to process even routine measures limited the sheer volume of liberal bills that could be adopted."<ref name="Schickler-2011" />

=====Use of the filibuster=====
One of McConnell's most common tactics as minority leader to delay or obstruct legislation and judicial appointments has been the [[Filibuster in the United States Senate|filibuster]]. A filibuster is an attempt to "talk a bill to death", forcing Senate leadership to abandon a proposed measure instead of waiting out the filibuster―or at least to delay the measure's passage. In the United States Senate, any senator may speak for unlimited duration unless a 60-person majority votes to invoke [[cloture]], or end debate, and proceed to a final vote. Political scientists have referred to McConnell's use of the filibuster as "[[constitutional hardball]]", referring to the misuse of procedural tools in a way that undermines democracy.<ref name="amnesia" /><ref name="Fishkin-2018" /><ref name="Levitsky-2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562246/how-democracies-die-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/9781524762933/|title=How Democracies Die|last1=Levitsky|first1=Steven|last2=Ziblatt|first2=Daniel|date=2018|publisher=Penguin Randomhouse|access-date=March 14, 2019|archive-date=December 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211150321/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562246/how-democracies-die-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/9781524762933/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/12/11/wisconsins-and-michigans-legislatures-are-trying-to-weaken-incoming-governors-should-you-be-worried/|title=Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan want to weaken incoming Democratic governors. Here's what's the usual partisan politics – and what isn't.|last=Glassman|first=Matt|date=2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=March 14, 2019|archive-date=December 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211132519/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/12/11/wisconsins-and-michigans-legislatures-are-trying-to-weaken-incoming-governors-should-you-be-worried/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Political scientists Hacker and Pierson describe the rationale behind McConnell's filibusters, "Filibusters left no fingerprints. When voters heard that legislation had been 'defeated', journalists rarely highlighted that this defeat meant a minority had blocked a majority. Not only did this strategy produce an atmosphere of gridlock and dysfunction; it also chewed up the Senate calendar, restricting the range of issues on which Democrats could progress."<ref name="amnesia" />

In 2013, Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] [[Nuclear option|eliminated the filibuster]] for all presidential nominations except the Supreme Court. By that time, nearly half of all votes to invoke cloture in the history of the Senate had occurred during Obama's presidency.<ref name="Mann-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/gop-decay-of-political-norms/540165/|title=How the GOP Prompted the Decay of Political Norms |author1=E.J. Dionne Jr. |author2=Norm Ornstein |author3=Thomas E. Mann |date=September 19, 2017|work=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=October 8, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=October 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008061326/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/gop-decay-of-political-norms/540165/|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2017, Senate Republicans led by McConnell eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations in order to end debate on the nomination of [[Neil Gorsuch]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/mcconnell-went-nuclear-confirm-gorsuch-democrats-changed-senate-filibuster-rules-n887271|title=McConnell went 'nuclear' to confirm Gorsuch. But Democrats changed Senate filibuster rules first.|work=[[NBC News]]|author=Timm, Jane C.|date=June 28, 2018|access-date=December 27, 2018|archive-date=December 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212052906/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/mcconnell-went-nuclear-confirm-gorsuch-democrats-changed-senate-filibuster-rules-n887271|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/06/republicans-go-nuclear-bust-through-democratic-filibuster-on-gorsuch.html|title=Republicans go 'nuclear,' bust through Democratic filibuster on Gorsuch|work=[[Fox News]]|author=Berger, Judson|date=April 6, 2017|access-date=December 27, 2018|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804090917/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/06/republicans-go-nuclear-bust-through-democratic-filibuster-on-gorsuch.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-approves-nuclear-option-fight-gorsuch-supreme-court/story?id=46608672|title=Senate approves 'nuclear option,' clears path for Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court nomination vote|work=[[ABC News]]|author=Rogin, Ali|access-date=December 27, 2018|date=April 6, 2017|archive-date=August 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804055718/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-approves-nuclear-option-fight-gorsuch-supreme-court/story?id=46608672|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2019, McConnell wrote an editorial for ''[[The New York Times]]'', strongly opposing the elimination of the filibuster on legislation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mitch McConnell: The Filibuster Plays a Crucial Role in Our Constitutional Order|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/opinion/mitch-mcconnell-senate-filibuster.html|author=McConnell, Mitch|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 22, 2019|access-date=September 18, 2020|archive-date=September 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903042823/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/opinion/mitch-mcconnell-senate-filibuster.html|url-status=live}}</ref>