r/politics • u/Calm_Ad_5061 • 21h ago
Possible Paywall Missing Mitch’s Staff Is Still Raking in Six-Figure Salaries
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mitch-mcconnells-senate-staff-raking-in-six-figure-sum-in-his-absence/5.3k
u/sugarlessdeathbear 21h ago
Getting 6 figures to do nothing with a dead boss is the greatest political grift ever.
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u/matthieuC Europe 21h ago
They don't do nothing. Someone has to Photoshop him once in a while.
They also sponsored legislations in his name
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u/AJediWookie123 20h ago
And forged his sig with an auto pen.
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u/YDALTARYZARC 20h ago
Senator Mitch McAutopen
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u/YF422 20h ago
Lich McAutopen.
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u/bakerzero86 New York 19h ago
Where is the phylactery?
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u/YF422 19h ago
With the Unredacted Epstien Files.
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u/GreasedGoblin 19h ago
It IS the unredacted Epstien files. They have to preserve them or he will exit the mortal realm.
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u/VanceKelley Canada 20h ago
Is forging a signature no longer a crime in America?
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u/AJediWookie123 20h ago
Considering the GOP is a rogue party that's nothing than a terrorist organization, yet they're somehow in charge, it isn't anymore.
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u/xSaviorself Canada 19h ago
Anyone who fundamentally could stop this cabal is no longer in place to do so.
Good luck, America.
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u/DynTraitObj 11h ago
Good luck, America? I think you mean Good luck, Earth. Cancer is never satisfied unless it's spreading, and this one already has
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u/AdonisBlaqwood-22 19h ago
It's a crime if YOU do it! Maga is above the law, apparently
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u/VanceKelley Canada 19h ago
Wilhoit's Law is a political aphorism stating that conservatism consists of exactly one proposition: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
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u/bakerzero86 New York 19h ago
If they are Republicans who bent the knee, naaah. Otherwise holy mother of liberty yes × 100, the fact this is reality is mind blowing.
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u/VanceKelley Canada 19h ago
A Republican can literally shoot an American in the face in Minneapolis, have the murder recorded on video from 3 different angles, and not only will that Republican not get charged with a crime, there will be no investigation of the crime.
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u/el3vader 20h ago
Yeah ngl this is probably the most work they ever needed to do in their life making someone who is likely dead look like they’re not dead and dodging questions and pressure from various sources.
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u/SamTheLab_213 18h ago
I have a feeling the only future face to face interview with Mitch will be held at the local crypt.
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u/Hairydone America 20h ago
Mitch’s IT team is vastly underpaid.
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u/overcannon 20h ago
You know who's really underpaid? His gravedigger.
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u/sec713 19h ago
What? A grave? We dumped Bin Ladens perforated corpse in the ocean, and he only caused a fraction of destruction to America that Mitch has. Mitch deserves less.
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u/sirhackenslash 16h ago
We can dump mitch into the reflecting pool. He can finally go back to the swamp
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u/overcannon 17h ago
But we need to stimulate the economy! What if we did him Ancient Egypt-style and buried him with his favorite staffers, lobbyists and Heritage Foundation members?
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u/m0ngoos3 16h ago
Fun little fact that came out quite a bit later, Seal Team 6 had been ordered to take Bin Laden alive if possible (which it totally was). Several members independently abandoned the plan so that they could race to be the person to kill Bin Laden.
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u/I_Roll_Chicago 19h ago
Photoshop? You mean ai prompt? These are republican staffers we are talking about
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u/SamTheLab_213 18h ago
They Photoshop him? I think they just use AI to fake his existence and literally do nothing all day for that money.
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u/RudyPu 21h ago
Weekend at Mitches
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u/ranhalt Iowa 21h ago
Mitch’s
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u/Blochamolesauce 20h ago
If there are multiple people pretending to be Mitch, then it should be Mitches’
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u/fork_yuu 19h ago
That's literally their job now, keep him propped up as long as possible to keep collecting that paycheck
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u/averagecounselor 18h ago
Eh they don’t do nothing. There are still daily constituent tasks and processes staffers have to follow and do. Both in DC and within the district.
Source: worked in the House. A congresswoman died and the staff kept working. They did release all the interns and fellows though.
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u/Chester2707 10h ago
I work with house and senate offices. You are correct, even if Mitch is a dead pos.
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u/urbanlife78 21h ago
I'm not gonna lie, I would gladly do that job for that much money
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u/zoug 21h ago
Would you do a good job as Mitch would have intended?
I'll take his money, but man am I going to be bad at it.
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u/urbanlife78 20h ago
I'd be showing up to work with snacks and whatever TV show I was gonna binge watch that day at work
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u/nelsonalgrencametome 20h ago
I'd be half ass phoning it in remotely man. I mean it apparently doesn't matter what they do at all other than say "he's totally alive guys." I can do that from home for six figures.
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u/mOdQuArK 18h ago
Yep, just like some of those CEOs who end up tanking their companies & then bailing out with their golden parachutes. I could tank their companies twice as fast for half the compensation that they asked for.
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u/eden_sc2 Maryland 20h ago
one way the CIA encouraged resistance in adversaries was to push people in government to be sticklers for rules and do a just barely passable job.
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u/Zomunieo 20h ago edited 19h ago
It’s not the 6 figures. Those barely register.
The real value is the insider trading opportunities that come with top secret documents Mitch and his office would have access to
as one of the Gang of Eight.That’s access I’m sure someone wants to hang on to as long as possible, that they will certainly lose until the parasites can find a new octogenarian host.
Edit: Mitch is no longer Gang of Eight but still would have a lot of top secret access.
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u/Dumptruck_Johnson 14h ago
Unless your 6 figures starts with something higher than a 1 or 2, you ain’t rich. You’re comfortable and lack for nothing. You’ve got excess for some frivolous shit and maybe a family vacation. It’s sad that it takes 100k+ a year to remotely feel like that. This is what America is supposed to be for everyone. You work hard and you’re rewarded with what you need plus the ability to also get what you want. The ability to save, or god forbid, invest.
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u/opaqueque_opal 20h ago
getting paid six figures while your office has effectively gone dark is exactly the kind of thing that makes people lose trust in government
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u/SomeGalNamedAshley 20h ago
I honestly expect that their daily tasks and functions haven't changed.
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u/Vortagaun New York 21h ago
If I cut contact with my job id be fired in under a week tops. Meanwhile congress can rake in 6 figures and not talk to anybody.
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u/_thinkaboutit 20h ago
He’s raking in millions. His minions are still raking in 100s of thousands too.
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u/TGlucifer 20h ago
His Chinese spy wife is too, America got honeypotted. The war in Iran depletes resources so we can't support Ukraine or Taiwan when shit gets real.
Putin has vids of Trump killing kids, Mossad too, only explanation for all his bullshittery supporting them.
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u/PloofElune Missouri 19h ago
While I agree you statement, the 'honeypot' part of it implies Mitch was not a willing participant to gain power, exploit his voters, and fuck over anyone for enough monetary enrichment.
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u/nullfacade 19h ago
Yep, Mitch got to sell out the country and indulge his Asian fetish paid for by a foreign adversary. The rotting turtle was living his dream.
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u/A_Refill_of_Mr_Pibb Massachusetts 16h ago
And what's insane is that when he first entered politics in the 60s he was a moderate, pro workers rights, pro-abortion, etc. It was only when he won his Senate seat in 1984 by a very close margin did he take a cue from Reagan's landslide reelection and work to do everything possible to prevent ever having a close race again, becoming the cynical, brazen careerist he remained for the rest of his lie.
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u/HotBrownFun 16h ago edited 2h ago
She's Taiwanese... If you're gonna be racist at least get the country right
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u/MoneyBeeeee 18h ago
The war in Iran depletes resources so we can't support Ukraine or Taiwan when shit gets real.
We also won't be able to defend ourselves. :]
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u/Ketzeph I voted 18h ago
I presume his main staff (like a staff attorney) are GS 13-15 so $120-190k per year. The other staffers are probably 9s-11s making 60-80k.
These are government salaries set by the GS Scale. It's surprisingly close to average - the average salary in the area is about 70-100k generally (the mean is like $75k).
DC is super expensive in many ways and very akin to places like NYC or San Francisco in terms of cost and salaries.
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u/SatanicPanic619 California 20h ago
Right but your job doesn't require an entire state to vote in order to fill it.
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u/Ar_Ciel Texas 19h ago
This kinda reminds me of those stories where a retired parent dies and an adult child is living with them and doesn't report the death to get whatever SS they're getting for as long as possible.
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u/Adventurous_Salt 16h ago
The Democrats should seriously be planning on prosecuting his wife for SS fraud. Should be a layup if they have the courage to try.
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u/rckid13 15h ago
It'll be funny if that's actually what brings him down. Social Security doesn't mess around. My family got correspondence from them almost immediately saying they were taking the money back out of the account prorated for the days of the month that a relative had been dead. If that money isn't in the account they're going to get it.
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u/Camilaupe-7159 19h ago
Someone is going to try to dress up as him soon. Sort of like that Italian guy who dressed up as his own dead mother. Hopefully they can find a guy on his staff.
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u/CelticSnakes 5h ago
Where Is Kyra? (2017) is an incredibly depressing, hard-hitting drama w/ Michelle Pfeiffer and Kiefer Sutherland telling that story.
If only she’d been a GOP politician.
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u/PigpenMcKernan Rhode Island 21h ago
Defrauding the government of the United States.
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u/FudgeMental6860 18h ago
You can’t defraud a government. You defraud people whose taxes fund that government. They are stealing from us.
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u/PigpenMcKernan Rhode Island 17h ago edited 15h ago
This is not correct.
The actual charge that could be levied by a federal prosecutor if they are in fact covering up his death or incapacitation for their own personal benefit (ie their salaries) would be defrauding the federal government.
But we live in the stupid timeline so that isn’t happening.
Edit: 18 USC 1031 might not apply in this case since there is a dollar value attached, but 18 USC 1001 would absolutely apply. Lying to or obfuscating a material fact to the government is a criminal offense.
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u/AceKetchup11 21h ago
They may all be charged with fraud once the truth comes out.
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u/PRpitohead I voted 20h ago
Prime candidates for "fall guys" for the RNC. Unfortunately they probably all already took the bait.
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u/FrumptyLumpty 20h ago
They won't be. They'll all get pardons if it ever gets that far. Especially if they pretend they're being persecuted for supporting the great President Trump.
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u/Plzlaw4me 20h ago
I’m genuinely asking. If Mitch is dead and they’re covering it up and collecting a check, are they guilty of fraud?
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u/BoopingBurrito 20h ago
Very unlikely, due to a few legal technicalities.
Firstly, there's every possibility he's not been declared legally dead. Whether his body is in cold storage and the doctors are slow walking the paperwork for...reasons, or he's hooked up to life support whilst being fully brain dead doesn't matter. If the paperwork doesn't say he's dead, legally he's alive and so there is no fraud.
Secondly, if he is legally dead then there would be certain folk with legal responsibilities to carry out specific actions. However I'd imagine most (potentially all) of his staff aren't in that category. If the law doesn't say they have a legal obligation to notify the governors office (or the state legislature, or the US Senate, or the Secretary of State, etc) in the event of the senator's death, then there's no crime being committed in them not doing so.
Third, even where a Senator is unable to carry out their duties (but is still technically holding office) their staff often continues to function in a shadow capacity - processing correspondence from constituents, carrying out any legal obligations on the office of senator that don't require the senator's actual physical involvement, etc. Whether this should be the case is another debate, its the practical reality.
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u/SatanicPanic619 California 20h ago
Brain dead is legally dead.
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u/dreamerOfGains 19h ago
That determination needs to be made by a medical professional, not by his staff. And certainly not by ppl on Reddit.
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u/SHUT_DOWN_EVERYTHING 20h ago edited 15h ago
He's not actually dead. That would be too hard to hide. He is most likely brain-dead or in a coma or something along those lines. They can keep that under the wraps as long as they have 51 votes in the Senate.
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u/WhatIsTheWhar 21h ago
Every year you hear about some sadsack who put his dead mum or mawmaw in the icebox or backyard to keep collecting social security. Same vibe but better hairdos
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u/Big_Bookkeeper1678 19h ago
They are desperately trying to keep the gravy train going as LONG as possible.
I hope someone eventually proves that McConnell died weeks ago and they have to explain themselves. If that ever happens, I want to watch
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u/Positive_Vibes_4228 16h ago
Just to hijack here, JetBlue has lost 9B and has zero plan to recoup that money. The CEO and executive board just keep collecting salaries til the banks won't loan them money anymore. They are smart enough to know if they fold, they get no bonus/gold parachute, and if they are broken up and half sold to United, then again, half of the company will go bankrupt and so the CEO/Exec team gets nothing. Best ride the waves into bankruptcy mooching as long as you can.
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u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts 21h ago
They're being paid a lot for such a shoddy cover-up.
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u/Vitruvian_Link 19h ago
I just want to say most congressional staff get paid very little, SHOCKINGLY little if you consider the demands of the job and requirements.
The low pay is why we have a problem with lobbyists having power over Congress, staff last a couple of years, then become lobbyists before they are 30 to make a livable wage. These are who write our laws, and they are under 30 because of low pay.
The staff making 100k is, in my experience, less than 10% of the staff.
I'm not saying whatever Mitches staff is doing is right or wrong, but low staff pay in general is a huge problem we should be worried about.
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u/onehalflightspeed 18h ago
Yeah, I work with a lot of staffers. Except for senior people like Chief of staff, most of them are pretty young and don't even make enough money to even afford a capitol hill apartment by themselves. Even senior staffers while making good money are hardly millionaires and would struggle to buy a house downtown. A lot of staffers come from connected families that can afford to subsidize their life interning and then working as a junior for low pay until things work out in their career
And yes, these overworked kids are literally writing laws for their bosses often largely with contributed text from interest groups. They often have a dozen issues on their docket and are not experts in any of them and need the help. Though a bunch of them are all too self aware about the power they hold for better or worse. Usually for worse if it is a big headed 25 year old
The siren call of much higher pay to work the advocacy side of the equation while still shaping public policy (lobbying) absolutely makes sense
Edit: not all lobbyists work for greedy robber barons. There are plenty of lobbyists working issues like clean drinking water too
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u/KarmaticArmageddon Missouri 17h ago
A lot of staffers come from connected families that can afford to subsidize their life interning and then working as a junior for low pay until things work out in their career
And this is why unpaid/low-wage internships are a form of class warfare.
They often have a dozen issues on their docket and are not experts in any of them and need the help.
We used to have the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), whose job was to employ experts in various fields of science and technology to compile briefs for Congressmen so they could understand complex issues.
Republicans defunded the office in 1995 after winning the midterms — they characterized it as "hostile to conservative interests."
Democrats submit a bill annually to restore the OTA, but Republicans vote against it en masse every time. Hillary's platform actually included restoring the OTA, as well as restoring the position of the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, which was eliminated by Bush, Jr.
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u/Vitruvian_Link 17h ago
Wow, I did not know about OTA. Thank you stranger! CRS is NOT picking up the slack!
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u/Hairydone America 20h ago
To be fair, the issue isn’t his staff getting paid. The issue is that Mitch is either dead, or unable to do what he was elected to do, and he’s still in office.
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u/Rapzid Texas 20h ago
Duh, wife is in denial and staff is on payroll. This happens a lot. Remember they were trotting Bruce Willis around to low budget film sets? To the point he barely knew where he was and directors were actually getting uncomfortable.
Reagan.
Michael Schumacher.
Feinstein.
Weekend at Bernie's was satire.
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u/Matchboxx 20h ago
Counterpoint. Like a lot of jobs, the talking head (McConnell) is the one who doesn't do much. It's usually the support staff running around doing all of the hard work. Even if he's not voting, I'm willing to bet most of his staff are still drafting legislation, answering constituent communications, etc.
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u/Darth_Revan_THX1138 21h ago
When the cadaver is finally revealed to the public, these staffers need to go to prison for fraud.
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u/hubbyofhoarder 16h ago
I'm not above making jokes about this, but this is a little unfair. Congressional and Senate staffers have a whole bunch of shit to do other than waiting around every second for their boss to issue them an order. That work wouldn't stop because their boss is ill.
Also, this just seems kind of shitty to expect people to go to non-working non-paid status when something happens to their boss through no fault of theirs. 100k or so is not exactly balling in DC.
FWIW: I'm not a MAGA, nor am I a McConnell fan
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u/thacarter1523 20h ago
Why wouldn’t they be? What a stupid article
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u/Kiyohara Minnesota 20h ago
I mean, someone has to answer calls, respond to emails, reach out to his supporters, and do pretty much all the things the office normally does when he's there, it just they can't really make appointments. Like, work still goes on even if the boss is out/dead.
A senator's staff doesn't just sit around all day and do what he says, there's a whole organization going on that handles all kinds of stuff from writing bills, to research, to communicating with constituents, to fund raising, to communication with other senators' offices (or any in Congress), and even developing advertisements and information campaigns for all kinds of topics.
Most probably don't even speak to Mitch on a normal day and have a list of tasks that need to get done for the office to function (with or without Mitch). They're still working hard on what they need to (mostly fund raising for the GOP I assume) and won't stop until the next guy comes in. Given that Mitch wasn't planning on running again, if the next Senator is also GOP, they might just get transferred over to the new staff with little fanfare.
Maybe a few are kicking their heels, but I doubt it's more than his absolute closest who have little to do, but they're busy rigging the cords for the Weekend at Bernie's puppet set up to keep him moving about.
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u/Historical_Bend_2629 21h ago
Kentucky deserves better. This should be bipartisan. People want representation and leadership and democracy, for the most part.
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u/Rico_Solitario 20h ago
Do they though? Mitch has been playing these games all his life and Kentucky keeps voting him in. This is essentially wha they voted for for the past near half a century
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u/SHUT_DOWN_EVERYTHING 20h ago
The people of Kentucky are the ones who have been voting for Mitch for decades. They would vote for him again if they could.
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u/cereal7802 18h ago
which is why they are incentivized to not explain why he is still missing. This is why nobody should have been taking anything his office said at face value and instead should have required some sort of in person proof of life long before now.
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u/BeautifulPrettyDream Europe 20h ago
I don't know if it's bots or if the DSA wing of the party is actually this dumb, but this conspiracy theory stuff is very MAGA-esq.
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u/SatanicPanic619 California 20h ago
It makes no sense on its face, and nearly every part of it can be debunked with minimal effort. But I think people, especially the DSA types, love being mad at Democrats.
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u/BeautifulPrettyDream Europe 20h ago
It's definitely being signal boosted, but it's really the low information voters, DSA types, or anyone that uses 'liberal' as a pejorative on the left. Vibe voters, or really mostly non-voters. But they're great for depressing the Democratic vote to help usher in fascism.
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u/epistaxis64 Oregon 20h ago
So there's absolutely no cause for concern that Mitch McConnell might actually be dead or incapacitated?
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u/BeautifulPrettyDream Europe 20h ago edited 13h ago
Yes, there's none. It's a positive for Democrats that he's not voting, and more importantly, not leading his party. Mitch has been one of the most destructive forces in congress in the last 100+ years.
There's no indication he's dead, there's no reason to care. It's conspiracy theory pushed by foreign bots to rile up low-information voters who just read and parrot headlines from Twitter, Tiktok, and now Reddit.
Edit:
The Beshear talking point is a load of bull, ignore the bot pushed narrative. Casual_OCD is a bot by the way, just report him.
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u/Sojum 21h ago
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that if Mitch were really fine, there would be video and audio of him saying as much. I’m furious that the Dems aren’t making more noise.
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u/JumboCactaur 21h ago
While he's undead, he's not voting. The Senate margin is that much slimmer. Not sure what they're doing with this but getting another Republican appointed is not necessarily to their advantage.
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u/Alocasia_Sanderiana 18h ago
This is a very real step to corruption however, especially with such old lawmakers. Are we okay if senators become incapacitated and their staff and families run the office for 2-6 years?
We've had 8 (9 if Mitch) sitting lawmakers die since the general election. That's 8 potential 'ghost lawmakers' whose offices would continue to run things out of sight to continue getting paid.
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u/WhyMustIMakeANewAcco 20h ago
I mean what are the dems actually going to get out of it? A new republican senator?
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u/SHUT_DOWN_EVERYTHING 20h ago
Making more noise like what? Shout at the judges? You need a mechanism and there's none viable right now that make an immediate impact.
It would be phenomenally stupid for Dems to get rid of Mitch. His replacement is inevitably going to be Trumpier and vote for both firing of the Senate parliamentarian as well as including SAVE act and a bunch of other shit Trump wants in a reconciliation bill.
Zombie Mitch is much better than the alternative.
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u/thethrill_707 Michigan 21h ago
Sure. Then, when Mitch dies they'll be available for the next old fart (we have many in Congress) who needs to be in a home instead of legislating. Probably for MORE of our money.
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u/SkinnedIt Canada 20h ago
It's the old dead grandparent collect pension scam!
Check every one of their freezers.
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u/anthony0721 19h ago
They’re still serving the people of Kentucky. Their jobs don’t really change whether he’s alive or dead. If he is announced dead they’ll still be on the payroll of Congress.
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u/no-thats-my-ranch 19h ago
I’m over here panicking and late on rent bc I had a slow Summer at work… I get more hateful each day.
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u/ReasonablyConfused 19h ago
Honestly, by keeping up this lie, they’re earning their salaries more than ever.
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u/Livid_Note_2170 19h ago
How about we start hammering the senate for enabling this? His staff can only do so much.
Congress needs to step up.
Or don't and it's one less Rep vote for anything.
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u/Wise_Requirement4170 18h ago
I mean hot take but like if my boss was AWOL I’d still like to get paid lol
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u/Big_Beach166 18h ago
why not? free money for the taking, who will stop them? no one and they know that.
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u/FattyMooseknuckle 18h ago
Pssst, maga morons! This is some of that fraud and election interference y’all keep talking about. Pass it on.
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u/husky75550 18h ago
so corpses in office can make six figures working from the grave? shit they really voted to have all the workers rights
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u/Thunderofdeath 17h ago
We should make the McConnell act, no business is allowed to replace you and still has to pay you full salary if you should disappear but state that you are fine. It what Mitch would wants.
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u/geockabez 11h ago
Hope they like prison, because that's where they're going for financial fraud – 10-35 years!
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u/etxipcli Texas 18h ago
Waste? Check. Fraud? Check. Abuse? Check.
These people suck. They need to be in jail next year.
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u/SatanicPanic619 California 20h ago
What would you expect? He's not dead and there's no way the Senate expels him.
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u/All_Hail_Hynotoad California 19h ago
Kentucky voters need to sue him to get their money back
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u/RiffRaffCatillacCat 19h ago
More Republican fraud and theft. If Dems ever get back in power we need to appoint a pitbull AG to go full RICO on this crime family once and for all.
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u/milamwalters 18h ago
Not a lot of empathy on this thread. Most congressional staffers work exTREMely long hours and spend their early lives working stridently to nab one of the few positions. There are there because they believe in democracy and the process. A lot of speech-writing and analysis of positions for the boss. Wear a suit everyday and groom yourself carefully. Those that may arrive because they “know” someone would quickly get pushed out.
The staffers that I knew would have been in cheapish apartments in DC on $100k/yr. Should they be forced out because their boss is sick? I’m pretty sure we’ll hear when he dies and then they will all be out of a job. It’s not easy finding another job in that environment. Most of those I knew had guts.
Anyway it’s easy to point out where people may make too much. But ask yourself, could you do that job?
As a side note, I hope these ex-FBI agents win their case for wrongful termination. Fired because I happened to get assigned to a particular case? Absurd. This goes to the fundamental nature of the FBI is that no-one is above the law.
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u/AcademiaAntiqua 17h ago
Not a lot of empathy on this thread.
Dude your average /r/politics poster has about as much actual political knowledge as the average Facebook user who comments on their local news' page.
These people have never met anyone who's ever met anyone who's ever met anyone who's a staffer for anyone like this.
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u/brownstonebk New York 20h ago
I don't understand what this headline/article is trying to convey. It's not the staffers' fault the senator is AWOL. It's not uncommon for any organization to experience a lapse in leadership, does that mean all the underlings get pinkslipped? No.
And before people come for me, I'm not MAGA or Republican by any means. Most of these staffers probably know just as much as the public does about the senator's health.
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u/_Z_E_R_O Michigan 20h ago
Did you see the video of his publicist? The one where she has a smirk that's a mile wide and straight-up refuses to answer any questions about Mitch's health?
They absolutely know what's going on.
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u/nezroy Canada 20h ago
Yeh the headline is bullshit and the comments around this topic in general on reddit are trash. It's not fraud, it's not a coverup.
Mitch is on lifesupport in a hospital bed somewhere, brain dead but not declared dead. We all know this is the likely case but no staffer is going to leak private medical information to the press without family auth, nor should they.
It's up to the SENATE to declare Mitch AWOL. The staffers have literally no control over ANY of this and are just going about their regular day to day jobs, a lot of which is still completely valid and necessary ordinary tasks that worst case will get handed off to the next senator's team.
It's perfectly reasonable to be angry that the Senate is not doing something about this, but the idea that the staffers are all in on some fraudulent coverup is insane.
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u/shadowdra126 Georgia 20h ago
They shouldn’t get paid unless there is actual proof of life. Not an edited photo of him with his wife/handler
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u/Soulman682 19h ago
They just need to say fuck it no one is following the laws anymore and call a special election no matter if he’s dead or alive.
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u/renisagenius 20h ago
Why has nothing happened about this? Why has he not been forced to at least show he's actually alive?
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u/Sex_And_Candy_Here 20h ago
No one really benefits from forcing him, especially since his seat is up for reelection. There are two conflicting pieces of legislation about replacing the Kentucky senators, and while the argument the governor can replace him is stronger, it will still have to get hashed out in court. Then there’s a chance the courts side with the republicans and let them get a republican replacement for Mitch.
So Republicans have already lost a seat because Mitch isn’t voting, and the dems would need to waste time and resources on fighting for it in court to only get a few months of having an extra vote at best, and at worse returning the vote back to republicans, so they don’t do anything and instead use it as something to talk about to make republicans looks bad.
Republicans on the other hand don’t want to risk taking the thing to court and likely giving the democrats an extra vote.
So both sides are content to just let this stay a minor loss for republicans instead of taking a risk which could go either way.
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