Will you give McCaskill permission to do her job?
On August 30, Attorney General Josh Hawley sent the following letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, calling on him to give Claire McCaskill permission to do her job. McCaskill and her campaign have also requested that Josh ask Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to give her some time off to come back to Missouri for debates, so McConnell is CC’d on the letter.
Full text can be found below:
Aug. 30, 2018
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Schumer,
I’m writing today because Senator Claire McCaskill has said she will not make decisions or do her job without checking with her party bosses first.
You know her well, I know. She’s taken you and your wife to Cancun for a getaway. Did you fly down in her private plane? That must have been fun! And you’ve committed nearly $20 million of your New York money to buying her re-election in Missouri. She respects that. She’s voted with you more than 2,800 times over her two terms in the U.S. Senate. That’s 85 percent of the time – you couldn’t have a much better co-pilot than that.
In fact, she routinely votes with you instead of with the people of Missouri. For example: She voted with you against the border wall. She voted with you to oppose the President’s middle- class tax cuts. She voted with you to oppose numerous qualified nominees under this administration, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
She even waited to meet with Supreme Court-nominee Brett Kavanaugh until you lifted your boycott.
Now, according to her campaign, Senator McCaskill say she needs permission to debate — this time, from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
All this is all kind of strange, to be honest, because we here in Missouri cherish our independence. I don’t remember another senator from my state constantly asking permission from party leaders to do their job. But I guess Senator McCaskill takes a different view. You know, party first. Party last. Party always.
So: will you give Senator McCaskill your blessing to debate, to vote for Judge Kavanaugh, to build the wall — in short, your blessing to do her job? Given the fact you’ve kept Senator McCaskill’s vote in your back pocket for the last six years, you owe it to us.
Enjoy the Kavanaugh hearings,
Josh Hawley
Attorney General of Missouri
CC: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell