Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he does not expect the current Congress to make any landmark progress with President Barack Obama at the helm, but he remains hopeful that significant progress will be achieved.
In an interview with Politico, McConnell blamed Obama for not being the type of president that is partial to compromises.
"This is not Reagan or Clinton," McConnell told
Politico in an exclusive interview. Obama "is not a guy who easily goes to the middle. And there's no indication since the elections that he wants to go to the middle."
"I hope this will be a Congress of significant accomplishment," McConnell added. "I don't think it's going to be of huge accomplishment."
McConnell told Politico that he expected that the chances of striking a major deal with Obama on tax reform or raising the eligibility age on entitlements are nil.
Instead, he's focusing on trying to identify more modest accomplishments such as Senate reform, and passing bills on trade, education, surveillance, Iran, and cybersecurity that may find bipartisan support.
McConnell indicated that he was sensitive to the political importance of easing gridlock in the chamber, particularly given the risks of losing control of the Senate in the next cycle.
And he admitted that it may have been a mistake to allow the battle over the Department of Homeland Security to play out so long, a mistake he intends to avoid in the future.
"What will happen is the bills will start out the way we like them; in order to move them — we'll probably have to make compromises," McConnell said of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the government, according to Politico. "That's the way the legislative process works when it's functioning."
At the same time, he signaled that he intended to stand his ground when the matter of the national debt ceiling comes up later this year.
"I always think a debt ceiling is a good tool to carry something," McConnell told Politico when asked if he would acquiesce to White House demands to keep the measure free of restrictions. "I hope we can add something to it."
McConnell has worked to rebuild relationships with Democrats, using one-on-one meetings to help achieve the aim of getting more legislation through the chamber.
"I think we do have more opportunities to offer amendments," Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski told Politico. "but I'm not sure we'll have more opportunities to solve problems."
To date, McConnell's Senate has already had more amendment votes than last year when then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was at the helm. The flip side is that amendments can be shot down by just one senator resulting in a more drawn-out process on the floor and fewer bills passed than past Congresses that were known for their dysfunction.
McConnell makes an effort to intervene to ensure progress. For example, on Thursday, McConnell sat down with Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Ted Cruz of Texas to discuss with them their demands for votes on
amendments related to the Iran bill.
To prevent it from derailing the ultimate passage of the bipartisan bill, he will likely file a motion Monday to cut off further debate, Politico reported.
"Welcome to my world," McConnell said when asked about the hurdles of legislating.
"This is life in the Senate."
"You just have to keep massaging the process and making some headway every day until you have the sense that as many people as possible have had a chance to have a say," McConnell said, according to Politico.
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