Posted on 06/21/2022 8:41:41 PM PDT by RandFan
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)
Cornyn is a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who negotiated with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) last year on legislation to expand background checks for commercial sellers but without success.
Cornyn scored one of the few notable accomplishments on gun violence legislation in recent years when he coauthored and helped pass the Fix NICS Act in 2018. The legislation required federal agencies to produce plans for uploading all relevant information to the National Instant Criminal Background Checks System.
McConnell tapped Cornyn to lead the negotiations for Republicans shortly after a bipartisan group of senators met in Murphy’s basement to begin talks in hopes of finding a way to respond to the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings.
Cornyn has an A-plus rating from the NRA and McConnell has praised him for knowing more about gun-safety policy than anyone else in the Senate GOP conference.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
McConnell showed his interest in passing a bill to respond to the violence in Buffalo and Uvalde when he tapped Cornyn to lead the negotiations with Democrats.
A Republican senator close to McConnell said the leader’s decision to task Cornyn with the job showed that he wanted to get a positive result.
McConnell later said as much when speaking to reporters this month.
“I am hopeful that we could come up with a bipartisan solution that’s directly related to the facts of this awful massacre,” he said in late May.
McConnell announced last week that he would support the gun-safety bill if it hewed to the bipartisan framework endorsed by 10 Republican and 10 Democratic senators on June 12.
McConnell also has an A-plus rating from the NRA.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
Tillis made up the core negotiating group along with Cornyn and Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
He was initially seen as skeptical toward gun-safety legislation when early on during the debate he raised concerns about red flag legislation but once Cornyn and McConnell brought him into the talks he turned out to be a valuable asset to the negotiations.
Tillis is viewed as a good political barometer of the Republican Party and his support for the framework likely encouraged other Republicans to sign on.
He has an A NRA rating.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Collins is one of the principal dealmakers in the Senate and she attended the first meeting in Murphy’s hideaway in late May. Collins was particularly active in the talks to combat illegal straw purchasing and firearms trafficking.
She introduced the Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act in April of last year.
Collins has a B rating from the NRA.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
Graham cosponsored legislation with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in 2018 to amend the federal criminal code to authorize and establish procedures for a family member or law enforcement officer to request a court order to take away a firearm from someone judged to pose a risk to himself or others.
Graham attended the first meeting of the bipartisan group in Murphy’s hideaway and said afterward that he supported legislation to create incentives for states to administer red flag laws if they chose.
Graham has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
Cassidy worked on the mental health component of the gun safety bill and participated in the first bipartisan discussion in Murphy’s office via telephone.
Cassidy is building a reputation for himself as a bipartisan dealmaker. He signed a statement last year endorsing a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure framework, which paved the way for the deal eventually passing.
He’s not up for re-election until 2026.
Cassidy has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)
Blunt is the chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee and a close ally of McConnell’s.
He’s not as moderate as other Republicans who signed onto the bipartisan framework on gun-safety principles earlier this month.
McConnell’s desire to get a result on gun-safety legislation may have helped Blunt vote yes. He is retiring from Congress at the end of the year.
Blunt has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
Burr is another McConnell loyalist who is retiring from Congress at the end of this year.
The prominent role that his home-state colleague Tillis played in the talks gave Burr more incentive to vote for proceeding to the bill.
He also signed onto the bipartisan framework of principles released on June 12.
He has an A-plus rating from the NRA.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah)
Romney has emerged with Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) as the three most likely Republican swing votes in this Congress.
He voted twice to convict former President Trump on impeachment charges.
Romney kept his involvement in the discussions pretty low-profile but he signed the June bipartisan framework.
He played a prominent role in negotiating last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill and earlier this bill hashed out a compromise with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a $10 billion COVID relief package.
He is one of the biggest bipartisan dealmakers in the Senate and has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
Portman was one of the 10 Republican senators who endorsed the June framework along with 10 Democrats.
He is an advisor to McConnell’s leadership team and will retire from Congress at the end of the year.
Portman was one of the lead negotiators on last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. More recently he has emerged as the Senate’s leading champion for supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
He has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
Capito was one of the four surprise Republican votes for proceeding to the gun safety bill Tuesday evening.
Capito did not endorse the June framework and when asked about it said she would have to review the details of the legislative text before rendering an opinion on whether she would support or oppose the bill.
Capito is also an advisor to McConnell’s leadership team and her home-state colleague Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was an early participant in the bipartisan discussions on responding to the violence in Uvalde.
Capito has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
Ernst didn’t endorse the bipartisan framework when it was first unveiled this month and also said she wanted to review the legislative text before making a decision.
Ernst is a member of McConnell’s leadership team as the vice chairwoman of the Senate Republican Conference.
She was seen as a possible yes vote after she signaled willingness to consider raising the minimum age for buying an AR-15-style rifle to 21.
She has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
Murkowski was viewed as a mystery vote heading into floor consideration of the gun safety bill.
Murkowski deflected reporters’ questions about the various gun-safety proposals in recent weeks by saying she was focused on other issues.
She played a leading role in negotiating last year’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill and isn’t afraid to break with the majority of her conference on big votes.
She famously opposed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation in 2018 and voted to impeach Trump for inciting insurrection last year.
Murkowski is up for re-election in November but she has a built a political base for herself in Alaska that includes many moderate Republicans, independents and Democrats.
She has an A rating from the NRA.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.)
Young was one of the biggest surprises to emerge on Tuesday after he voted to proceed to the legislation. 0.
Young has a pragmatic streak and knows that showing independent voters and suburban women, two key electoral blocs, that Republicans know how to govern is good politics in general elections.
Young is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer and has an A-plus rating from the NRA.
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They’ve pushed the entire Biden agenda sans one piece of legislation.
Judges, Cabinet, Appointees, Money.
There has been no Opposition to Biden.
That’s why they blocked Subpoenas for years to get Joe in there.
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How many of the base WILL stay home this cycle, wonder how many after a fraudulent election will FINALLY say ENOUGH!! SCREW THEM!! I took my name off the voter rolls after the 2020 election WHEN will it finally be ENOUGH for other??
Murky? A mystery vote? LOL We knew darn well how she would vote.
You keep saying that. If you really supported Trump, you would give your all to at least try to give him needed support.
Remember McConnell showed up at CPAC holding a rifle?
Save your energy for something productive. They don't care what you think.
I advocate cutting them off communication. If the public didn't talk to them, they'd get nervous. And they DO deserve shunning.
Tillis is one of our SINators from NC. He voted to change any names the left has a problem with. He’s had his hand in the solar energy cookie jar since his 1st day as sinator. He does what the McRomBushes tell him to do.
Maybe Conservative “leaning” is the key phrase. “Leaning” can have a wide range of definition.
18 year olds join the military and are trained to use “assault weapons”.
The stench of the hypocrisy in Washington reeks.
I was big on the abortion issue over the years and National Right To Life was a money machine designed to help Republican Establishment politicians win office and the National Rifle Association also a money machine to support Establishment politicians.
Also at the NRA the corruption of Wayne La Pierre out there for all to see and he’s still running the show.
“How ironic (idiotic): Everyone of these jokers has an A or A+ rating from the NRA save one, Collins, who got a B.”
A suspicious/skeptical mind might come to the conclusion that the NRA is actually a swamp grift rather than a firearms civil rights organization.
PS I predict that if they go through with this the GOP will squander a once-in-a-century opportunity to reshape The Swamp, which is the probable strategy all along as the 14 are not the lest bit conservative, they are instead Assistant Democrats. Prior to this fiasco I was predicting GOP gains of 70-80 in the House and 5-7 in the Sinate. There is almost no way to screw up regaining the House, but with 20-30 instead of 70-80. And the Sinate? Likely a net zero.
We need a second political party in this nation. Democrat and Assistant Democrat is all we have, except for a half dozen Sinators and a few dozen Congressrats. To quote myself, in order to enact conservative/constitutional policies the GOP would have to have 130 members of the Sinate, or 30 more than the body holds.
States had years to raise the semi-automatic age to 19. They didn’t, now it’s a national issue for Congress.
18-year old psychos cannot join the military. Applicants are subjected to vetting, screening, & evaluation.
Neither can patriots.
In the Soviet Union those who did not agree with government classified as “Mentally Ill”.
Both political factions in this country have argued consistently over the years that the other factions followers are “Mentally Ill”.
Where do laws like McConnell-Cornyn-Romney one this lead us they lead us to states potentially incorporating their political beliefs about mental illness into gun control laws.
Military induction and personnel decisions now controlled by the Biden Administration watch out young recruits, currently serving military classified as mentally ill over Conservative beliefs?
Lawsuit
Sue them to the hilt over First Amendment violations
Not always possible to elect pure as wind driven snow conservatives. There are not enough votes for those every election.
Point is without RINOs we would never get a Barret, Kavanaugh on SCOTUS. Democrats opposed all Trump nominees.
Only low IQ people prefer a democrat over RINOs.
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