Dire filibuster warning from McConnell

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky warned of a “scorched earth” landscape if Democrats use their new majority to bring an end to the Senate filibuster in hopes of muscling legislation supporting President Biden’s agenda past GOP opposition.

McConnell unleashed the dire forecast of a Senate that would all but cease to function, implying that Republicans would grind business to a halt by refusing to give consent for routine operations — from the start time for sessions to the reading of long legislative texts to quorum call votes.

“Let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues: Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin — can even begin to imagine — what a completely scorched earth Senate would look like,” McConnell said Tuesday in a Senate speech. McConnell said the partisan gridlock of the Trump and Obama eras would look like “child’s play” compared with what’s to come.

The remarks landed as the Biden administration takes a victory lap over the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 relief package that was approved by Congress without a single Republican vote. Republicans acknowledged privately that they are struggling to pry attention away from the bill — which appears popular among Americans benefiting from $1,400 cash payments and vaccine distribution — as the GOP focuses on future battles.

With the Senate evenly divided, the rest of Biden’s priorities face a tougher climb in Congress. While the Democratic-controlled House is able to swiftly approve potentially popular bills — to expand voting rights, extend background checks for gun purchases and others — the rules of the Senate are more cumbersome. It typically requires 60 votes to break a filibuster to advance most legislation.

Supporters of the process say it protects the rights of the party not in power, but detractors argue that it is being used to block bills.

Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York brushed off McConnell’s remarks as a “diversion” and said he hopes to work with Republicans on the upcoming bills but said all options for filibuster changes are on the table.