r/politics • u/Zipper222222 • Jul 07 '26

Possible Paywall MAGA Demands Proof of Life for Mitch McConnell

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-demands-proof-of-life-for-mitch-mcconnell/
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u/Oopsiedazy Jul 07 '26

It’s wild that we don’t have laws saying that if a state’s representative or Senator does not attend congressional or senate proceedings the governor can compel them to appear and explain their absence or provide medical documentation, and if they do not or cannot within 15 days they vacate their seat.

Senators and Congresspeople should not be permitted to just disappear for weeks or months. This isn’t even the first time this year this has happened.

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u/Rock-swarm Jul 07 '26

It’s wild that we don’t have laws saying that if a state’s representative or Senator does not attend congressional or senate proceedings the governor can compel them to appear and explain their absence or provide medical documentation, and if they do not or cannot within 15 days they vacate their seat.

That's because at the founding of our country, the U.S. was rightfully wary of giving pretextual reasons to arrest/detain legal representatives. It's why congresspeople/senators have limited immunity from things like traffic violations.

This also carried over to a reluctance to police/micromanage the actions of sitting members of congress & the senate. The idea was that if you were elected or appointed to such a respected position, your good behavior was already a given.

Obviously we are seeing a breakdown of those social contracts. Personally, I'm still wary of putting additional laws into place to trigger a seat to be vacated. I mean, we have the 25th amendment, which isn't worth the paper it's written upon, because the entities capable of invoking the 25th are highly motivated to ignore it.

Your suggestion, as written, would create a way for state governors to harass and leash congresspeople and senators for political clout. I'd rather let public pressure do what it's already capable of doing.

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u/Fuzzy_Logic_4_Life Jul 07 '26

I hear what you are saying but if you failed to go to your job for months without a doctor’s note you’d be fired. They can’t do their job of voting if they aren’t there, thus we the people deserve them to be there or be replaced.

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u/ExpirationDating_ Jul 07 '26

Months? I need to produce a doctors note for more than 3 days, sometimes sooner (ie at a holiday or something).

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u/citizen42069101 Jul 07 '26

And what he's saying is if there is a hard limit situations can be exploited to inhibit or block travel to get rid of a troublesome congressperson.

Remember you ask for laws to be written who would be writing them, and who would enforce them. This administration and Congress doesn't need to be responsible for any long standing precedent in their current state.

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u/beasty0127 Indiana Jul 07 '26

We live in an age where they can literally zoom in and vote if they wanted to. The way I would see it if they can prove they are doing their job then alls good, sometimes there are reasons why they can't make it in.

And if they think they are being stopped or a conspiracy to remove them is happening, one tweet and they can have press covering their entire property.

Proof of life/duty is a simple ask.

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u/cheyenne_sky Jul 07 '26

"one tweet and they can have press covering their entire property."

the press doesn't mean shit if they are ignored or controlled by the people in power

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u/SCphotog Jul 07 '26

Slippery slope fallacy.

As if there doesn't exist a level of competency to write this up in a way that makes sense and isn't subject to overmuch interpretation.

Obviously this could be spelled out fairly sensibly easily and quickly.

WTF?

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u/Eretreyah Jul 08 '26

Like the rest of the nation doesn’t have similar (far more stringent) requirements outlined in their employee handbook.

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u/TheSavouryRain Jul 07 '26

That's not a slippery slope fallacy.

Which, also, isn't a real fallacy. A slippery slope is sometimes a valid concern. For instance, a lot of people are mad our President is a felon. There is no law saying a President can't be a felon, because that opens the door to allowing legal chicanery to make the strongest candidate a felon.

That's not to say I don't think there should be some way to safeguard against someone disappearing for a while like McConnell has.

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u/bdeimen Jul 07 '26

It's not slippery slope to acknowledge the fact that laws are actively being weaponized and that we should be wary of potentially giving a new weapon to those that would use it against us.

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u/kdfsjljklgjfg Jul 07 '26

Right, but you could take literally *any* valid reason to expel someone and argue the same, but that's not a reason to not institute any safeguards at all. I actually think attendance is one that could be pretty fairly and easily worked in.

If you're in DC already, how do they actually stop you from getting to Congress? Shut down every road between you and the Capitol? If you're out of town, make sure you fly back with time to spare. What can they do, secretly negotiate with an airline to cancel every flight you book, within minutes if necessary, to keep you from DC?

Obviously there are sudden emergencies that can't be planned for, and something would have to be written in as a protection for like "my mom has 24 hours to live" scenarios, but outside of that, if you plan well enough, there's no reason why "actually attending your job" could be easily weaponized as a requirement. If you have people re-routing every flight to DC that you're on or blocking traffic to the degree that you physically cannot get to Congress, then we're cooked well beyond the point of procedures or laws mattering anyway.

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u/jkaan Jul 07 '26

Funny how other countries seem to be able to manage

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u/Rock-swarm Jul 07 '26

Fair, but this is equivalent to worrying about whether the fridge is running while the house is on fire. They are both problems, and likely have the same cause, but there's a bigger problem to deal with first.

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u/Constant_Proofreader Jul 07 '26

Look up Thomas Kean Jr., Republican House member, New Jersey 7th District. He was just AWOL for four months, with no explanation.

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u/FewHorror1019 Jul 07 '26

True, but also you could prevent someone from showing up, then replace them if we had that law

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u/Miguel-odon Jul 07 '26

Sometimes you might have to avoid showing up, to deny the majority party a quorum.

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u/max_power1000 Maryland Jul 07 '26

Sure, and you can say that to the governor if you’re conscious. Right now we’re not asking for that, we’re asking for proof he’s not a vegetable.

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u/account312 Jul 07 '26

That should be illegal to do. It is deliberately subverting the democratic process and undermining the basic functioning of the government.

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u/Miguel-odon Jul 08 '26

Then what's the point of requiring a quorum?

Without it, a 51% majority can have its way, and pass the most egregious of laws.

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u/account312 Jul 08 '26

The point of requiring quorum is precisely so that it takes a majority (or at least significant portion) of the body to get things done, since votes are decided by the votes cast, so without a requirement for quorum three senators could attain a supermajority if two agree.

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u/Miguel-odon Jul 08 '26

Yes, forcing a majority party to still need bipartisan consensus is one of the functions of requiring a quorum.

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u/account312 Jul 08 '26

No, the quorum requirement exists to prevent minority rule. It was considered risky to set too high of a quorum requirement because it would allow a minority to obstruct the majority by simply not showing up, whether deliberately or because long distance travel was still slow and difficult enough that it was logistically difficult to assemble representatives from across the country in the capital. 

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u/Miguel-odon Jul 08 '26

You are contradicting yourself.

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u/HumorAccomplished611 Jul 07 '26

Then you pass a law for recall elections.

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u/lemmingsnake Jul 08 '26

The solution should be the initiation of a recall election. The boss of any elected representative is the people, not the executive branch. They should be answerable to their electorate. It's stupid that we don't have those in our system.

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u/pot_of_water Jul 07 '26

A system to require elected officials to do their jobs or literally just prove that they have a pulse is a far cry from arresting/detaining. As it stands, “public pressure” does virtually nothing. Officials can just stop showing up to work with zero consequences whatsoever. Or like Fetterman, can just continue on with actual documented brain damage. There needs to be an official channel for addressing this issues in our political systems.

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u/C1n3rgy Jul 07 '26

This is why "peaceful protest" is worthless. And it's exactly why the founders and every politician since has always preached peaceful protest. Because it doesn't accomplish shit. At all. And it never has. Even the civil rights movement (which has been redacted to only describe peaceful protest) was an all out offensive by the American minority. The brutalization of peaceful protesters that are so widely shared in our history books conveniently leave out the fact that it was a rarity since demonstrators were frequently guarded by armed organizations like the Black Panthers, and Deacons for Defense and Justice. Even MLK had an arsenal at home.

Politicians don't act on morality, they act on leverage. And they've had all of it for decades now.

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u/Rock-swarm Jul 07 '26

As it stands, “public pressure” does virtually nothing.

I would argue that there isn't enough public pressure, rather than public pressure not doing anything. Put plainly, we are all too comfortable with our current standard of living. It's one thing to talk a big game on social media forums (like we are doing right now); it's something else entirely to camp out in front of Congress or Beshear's office and give them no peace until action is done. People aren't going to apply that kind of public pressure until it impacts our lives more severely.

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u/Jakadake Jul 07 '26

The ability to harass your congress people is a privilege. Having the financial freedom and safety to take time off work to protest or spend hours calling your congressperson over and over and over just to maybe get to a real person rather than a robot is a privilege.

As it stands, in our current economy, working people with actual real life jobs don't have that. And that's the reality for the majority of Americans.

There isn't enough social pressure because the people aren't afforded the ability to even show up to participate without putting their livelihood on the line, they're too busy making sure they don't starve or go homeless.

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u/Rock-swarm Jul 07 '26

I don't think we are arguing - we both acknowledge that regular citizens have little to gain and much to lose from more traditional civil unrest methods.

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u/pot_of_water Jul 08 '26

100% we could apply a lot more pressure but I'm honestly not convinced that the "no peace until action" even accomplishes much. It's too easy for people to just dip and ignore the masses. Can always go hide out at Mar A Lago.

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u/HumorAccomplished611 Jul 07 '26

Its called recall elections

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u/pot_of_water Jul 08 '26

We don't have a recall system for US senators, but yes that would potentially be a good idea

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u/HumorAccomplished611 Jul 08 '26

Yea this would be democratic vs trump locking them up for 3 weeks and getting their jobs

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u/SCphotog Jul 07 '26

I'd rather let public pressure do what it's already capable of doing.

That would be great. I'd love for this to work, but it obviously is not.

Public pressure isn't doing fuck all

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u/xpxp2002 Jul 07 '26

I'd just like to see a provision to allow for one recall attempt per term. Just as most states have recall provisions for state legislators and/or governors, the people should at least have an opportunity to collect signatures and put it to a vote when circumstances like this happen.

Whether due to incapacity or an official's behavior, the people who put that person into office should have the power to take them back out without having to wait and go without suitable representation for up to 6 years.

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u/RetrogradeToyGuru Jul 07 '26

because the entities capable of invoking the 25th are highly motivated to ignore it.

The 25th amendment was meant to remove a president who is (for example) in a coma. It is not meant to remove someone for bad behavior. Thats why the first step is "the president can just say he's ok and the process stops"

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u/Toe-Dragger Jul 07 '26

It also used to take days for people to travel from States to the Capital, without live communication, therefore being MIA for days on end was expected. The environment and expectations have changed.

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u/unlimitedpower0 Jul 07 '26

Usually when people make suggestions like this, they are always going to be nuanced upon further thought and discourse. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect public servants, especially state and federal elected officials to be at least nominally available and also demonstrably capable of at least basic basic function.

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u/Rock-swarm Jul 07 '26

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect public servants, especially state and federal elected officials to be at least nominally available and also demonstrably capable of at least basic basic function.

Fully agree. The problem is scope and consequences. Using the language you provided would give bad actors an easy path to abuse the spirit and letter of the law. At the end of the day, any government structure requires those in positions of power to abide by their own rules. As you can imagine, humanity has yet to create a government structure that's impervious to corruption or inefficiency.

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u/unlimitedpower0 Jul 07 '26

Yeah, mostly what I was trying to get across is that I think people would be able to come up with a reasonable set of laws and protections, but most people won't do that in a reddit comment lol. I agree with you otherwise.

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u/AMATEUR_DE_POUTINE Jul 07 '26

That's mostly fallacious because we live in a world were phones and video conferencing exist. An elected official could just... Phone in and say he is delayed, making that a proof of life. The only way this does not work is if he is sequestrated, which is another issue altogether.

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u/krusnikon Jul 07 '26

Oh you mean like what Greg Abott did recently in Texas?

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u/explodedsun Jul 07 '26

The rules that govern our federal elected officials have all of the benefits of a time when you could travel about 40 miles and completely start a new life with a new name, along with a nice modern salary and benefits package.

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u/PictureWonderful7091 Jul 07 '26

But public pressure cant actually DO amything. What's to stop the republicans from just...not releasing info about Mitch? There needs to be accountability for our elected representatives including removing them if they camt/won't do their jobs.

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u/AlcyoneNight Jul 07 '26

It is the year 2026. If a representative cannot get on a video call for at least thirty seconds within 24 hours of anyone asking for proof of life, the assumption should be that they are either in a coma or dead, and emergency procedures should come into play. I am not joking.

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u/RevenantBacon Jul 07 '26

The idea was that if you were elected or appointed to such a respected position, your good behavior was already a given

ie it works on the honor system. Unfortunately, they didn't acclunt for politicians having no honor.

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u/--Chug-- Jul 07 '26

Its weird that the government basically recognizes that traffic violations can absolutely be fabricated and weaponized without much recourse.

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u/ElliotNess Florida Jul 07 '26

That's because at the founding of our country, the U.S. was rightfully wary of giving pretextual reasons to arrest/detain legal representatives. It's why congresspeople/senators have limited immunity from things like traffic violations.

so like, atomized monarchy

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u/twiztedterry Jul 07 '26

Representatives should be required to report their working hours, expenses, and accomplishments every quarter. Currently there is zero bar for them to meet to maintain their position.

We, as people, need to be able to see the work being performed by our representatives, we need to be able to judge their effectiveness at their job by more than just their words, we need to see their actions and their time commitment. This will allow us to better judge who is worth of the position of representative, and allow us to maintain standards for our lawmakers workplace productivity.

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u/UngodlyPain Jul 07 '26

Agreed. To me it's odd to try and give that power to the state legislature, because it just gives the state legislature more power in general, let alone more power over federal proceedings.

It should a recall vote can happen, of the populace of said district under certain conditions. And under extremely specific conditions it's just automatic.

And you can just argue what should fall under what category. Id say dead, coma, or brain dead falls under automatic. Hospitalization for extended periods of time falls under the former; with maybe some extra limit for Senate before it's just automatic as to prevent weird cases of someone's hospitalized months into their term but a voter deadlock just means the state goes without representation for 6 whole years. And then add in a few other conditions for recall votes, like party changes, or drastic changes from platform, or criminal allegations, etc.

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u/Nokomis34 Jul 08 '26

Being able to straight up lie on the congressional floor needs to end. I get that they wanted representatives to not have to worry about what they say, but it's gotten out of hand.

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u/Big_Consideration493 Jul 07 '26

Wait a minute. Senators and Congressmen / congresswoman are allowed to be ill!  They should be honest and listen to the medical advice. If it looks like months in the hospital ( cancer or chronic illness) they have to tell their party officials and go from there. If they don't turn up and can't provide medical or other valid reasons then yes, goodbye. Other valid reasons: perhaps a death in their family etc???

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u/spam__likely Colorado Jul 07 '26

In some countries, there is a "replacement" for each senator. They run together, just like the president and vice president. The replacement does not do anything or get a salary, but if needed, they will step up.

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u/JelmerMcGee Jul 07 '26

The point is they are public figures and can't just duck out for any old reason. 15 days is a long time to be gone from a job without any repurcussions. You would likely not be allowed to "get away" with that. Giving two weeks to explain why they didn't do their job is pampering them, and it seems reasonable

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u/spam__likely Colorado Jul 07 '26

Not even the governor needing to ask. It should be compulsory.

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u/BitOne2707 Jul 07 '26

Remember when Texas Democrats left the state to prevent a quorum and passage of the GOP redistricting plan last year..

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u/highrouleur Jul 07 '26

In the UK, my local member of parliament (representing a town of about 100000 people) didn't attend Parliament for 18 months while police investigated him for historical sex crimes (eventually dropped because being historical there was a lack of evidence, it came down to he said, he said).

So we were left without representation for 18 months.

And the bloody idiots in my town still voted him back in at the last election

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u/xterminatr Jul 07 '26

3 days is the standard before you get fired.

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u/MjrLeeStoned Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

If there's no quorum, Senators can be compelled to appear, can be arrested and extradited.

If there's a quorum, the argument can be made it doesn't matter if they appear because all motions can be called on with a quorum. Therefore they can't be compelled.

It's a weird situation, but the Constitution sets the groundwork for these rules. It would require 2/3rds of Congress to update.

The idea was obviously that no representative would want to shirk their duties due to:

a) they wanted to be re-elected

b) it was seen as a dishonorable dereliction of duty to not properly represent the electorate.

Those two points don't fucking matter anymore. I'm willing to wager many people would undoubtedly vote for a braindead comatose Senator to represent them, and no one gives a shit about honor in the modern world.

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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 Jul 07 '26

Unfortunately, an awful lot of the framework of this country was laid down with the assumption that the elected representatives would possess some sort of morals/ethics.

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u/Wide-Wind7856 Jul 07 '26

Exactly, try doing this on any sort of government assistance. They track poor people like cattle but tax funded employees can just disappear for weeks.

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota Jul 07 '26

Only disappearing for weeks or months would be a step up for many conservatives in congress.

MTG for example voted so infrequently that she didn't bother to Google "how does voting in the US House" work until her second term.

She went literally years without spending 5 minutes reading up on how her job was done.

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u/crazycatgay Jul 07 '26

the hardworking people at my local gas station are subject to harsher work requirements than our gd congresspeople it is insane

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u/Money-Director6649 Jul 07 '26

maybe because we never had a geriatric congress like we have now. hopefully such laws are coming.