WASHINGTON – Apparently Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is unfamiliar with the old story about the frog and the scorpion, otherwise the man who fancies himself a sage at legislative maneuvering would have been better prepared for the political manipulations of his Kentucky GOP cohort and alleged good friend, Sen. Rand Paul.
In the story, a scorpion asks a frog to ferry him across a river. The frog is understandably reluctant, fearing the arachnid might decide to sting him. The scorpion promises to refrain, noting that the sting would lead to the demise of both of them. So the frog consents.
Sure enough, halfway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog. “Why?’’ the frog asks. “It is my nature,’’ the scorpion responds.
McConnell has gained a hard-earned lesson about the nature of Paul, who is simultaneously running for re-election to the Senate and the Republican presidential nomination. Paul’s gambit that put a cork in McConnell’s effort to reauthorize the Patriot Act established that the junior senator is not beholden to the majority leader and will, in fact, undermine his authority whenever the opportunity works to his advantage.
McConnell, meanwhile found himself standing helplessly and dumbstruck on the Senate in wake of Paul’s plotting, throwing a monkey wrench into his constant boasts that the Senate, that grand old institution, would get “back to work on behalf of the American people’’ under his wise leadership.
It unraveled this way:
The Patriot Act was originally passed in October 2001 in response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC, resulting in the deaths of thousands. It was intended to enhance the nation’s security but has drawn criticism from civil libertarians, including Paul, who maintain certain provisions violate personal privacy.
Authorization for the law expires on June 1 and some lawmakers, particularly McConnell, are eager to extend it. The Republican leader vowed to get the job done but Paul proved even more eager to stop it in its tracks.
Paul is particularly agitated over Section 215, which, among other things, authorizes the National Security Agency to collect, without a warrant, the bulk phone records of American citizens. He is using every means at his disposal to stop the legislative freight train.
He filibustered for more than 10 hours condemning the legislation’s attack on personal liberty. But more importantly, he led the fight that resulted in stymying efforts to call for a vote when McConnell proved unable to muster the 60 votes necessary to begin consideration.
Caught in a bind, with the Senate preparing to leave Washington on a week-long Memorial Day break, a desperate McConnell sought to extend the Patriot Act for a single day in hopes of working out some sort of deal. Paul, using the same ancient and outdated Senate rules utilized by McConnell in attempting to undermine President Obama’s legislative agenda, responded by saying, more or less, no dice.
So the Patriot Act, which McConnell described as “an important counterterrorism tool,’’ is on life-support. McConnell, who retains hope that it can be revived, is bringing lawmakers back a day early from the break in hopes of reaching an agreement.
McConnell, who considers himself a whizz on Senate rules and legislative strategy, fumbled the ball in his handling of what has devolved into what even he may agree is a mess.
Instead of being cognizant that the deadline for reauthorizing the Patriot Act was approaching, McConnell decided to proceed with consideration of a bill providing the president with fast-track trade authority before tackling the security measure, leaving him with little time to assuage the concerns of Paul and others over its contents.
McConnell sought to bring it up even though no Senate committee conducted so much as a hearing on Section 215 – despite repeated promises upon becoming majority leader that the power of legislative committees would be restored and that major pieces of legislation would no longer be shoved through without due consideration.
But most of all it seems he underestimated the cunning of the scorpion, Sen. Rand Paul.
McConnell and Paul have an interesting history. Overcoming the odds, Paul in 2010 defeated McConnell’s handpicked candidate, Trey Grayson, to succeed Sen. Jim Bunning as Kentucky’s other senator – a mean feat since McConnell is rightfully regarded as the godfather of the Kentucky Republican Party and a man you don’t want to cross.
McConnell proved magnanimous in responding to the turn of events and worked in Paul’s behalf during his successful general election campaign. Despite maintaining somewhat different views of the role of the federal government, McConnell took the sometimes obdurate Paul under his wing on Capitol Hill and they formed an alliance.
Paul endorsed McConnell in his 2014 re-election campaign despite GOP primary opposition from Matt Bevin, much to the disappointment of his Tea Party followers.
McConnell returned the favor by endorsing Paul for president in what’s shaping up as a crowded GOP field, the first major GOP figure to do so.
But there also is something of a strain in the relationship. McConnell, it’s fair to say, is a professional politician, one who has served in the U.S. Senate for 31 years – the longest such tenure in commonwealth history. He believes in the purpose of government.
He is precisely the sort of elected official Paul is running against in his presidential campaign.
“We have all seen the consequence of long-term incumbencies,’’ Paul said in a statement. “Career politicians seem to care more about their career than what is best for their country. We have seen politicians grow more and more out-of-touch with each successive term.’’
It’s unlikely the contretemps over the Patriot Act will be the last time the two face off, given their opposing views of government. The big battle is likely going to occur when the appropriations measures start rolling through and Paul offers objections to the government spending so much money. It isn’t going to be pretty.
The incident establishes just how difficult a task McConnell has set for himself in transforming the Senate. Democrats aren’t the only folks standing in his way. At least four Republicans – Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina – have their ambitions focused on the presidency. And they are unlikely to let a little thing like decorum block their path to the White House.
If it helps their campaign, none of the four are going to be doing any favors for McConnell, like agreeing to a one-day extension to work an issue out.
Paul’s intentions have been questioned. Asked if he wasn’t just playing to the crowd in order to generate support for his presidential campaign, he responded, “I don’t think people question my sincerity.’’
There’s no doubt Paul legitimately opposes Section 215 and feels it’s necessary to pull out all the stops to end it. But there’s also no doubt that he will make political hay over the issue to draw attention to his White House run, much to the consternation of his new friend and ally, Mitch McConnell.
Paul is circulating an Internet petition seeking to draw public support for his position, asserting that “we can end the surveillance state in America. Will you join with us to end illegal NSA spying and bulk data collection on innocent Americans?’’
And, of course, he’s using it to raise money to defeat what he characterizes as “the Washington machine,’’ where McConnell is one of the lead drivers.
That is, after all, Rand Paul’s nature.
Washington correspondent Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. He currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.
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