Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is happy to be the “grim reaper when it comes to the Democrat’s socialist agenda,” including blocking measures that would grant Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood.
“They plan to make the District of Columbia a state — that’d give them two new Democratic senators — Puerto Rico a state, that would give them two more new Democratic senators. And as a former Supreme Court clerk yourself, you’ve surely noticed that they plan to expand the Supreme Court,” the Kentucky Republican said referring to Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham when addressing growing calls from 2020 Democrats to add additional members to the high court.
“This is full bore socialism on the march in the House. And yeah, as long as I’m the majority leader of the Senate, none of that stuff is going anywhere,” he said.
Mr. McConnell added that other Democrat agenda items like the Green New Deal and Medicare for All “would turn us into a country we’ve never been.”
Measures have been introduced that would provide both the district and the territory to become states, which would reportedly lead to four additional senators and six additional representatives between the two that could skew Democratic and potentially undermine the Republican majority in the Senate.
The District of Columbia has a larger population than Wyoming and Vermont. Puerto Rico’s pre-Hurricane Maria population is larger than that of at least 20 U.S. states.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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