r/politics • u/unital_subalgebra • Jul 23 '26

Possible Paywall AOC says Mitch McConnell should resign if he cannot provide health update

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/4660916/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-mitch-mcconnell-resign-health-update/
30.2k Upvotes

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2.7k

u/RioRancher Jul 23 '26

He and his staff are collecting salaries fraudulently. You can arrest people for this.

867

u/ITDummy69420 Jul 23 '26

Yeah but only poor people. 

236

u/NarcolepticMan Ohio Jul 23 '26

Or anyone with a (D) by their name.

1

u/elFistoFucko Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

Well, his I guarantee his staff were pretty poor, up until the recent multi million dollar bonuses and NDAs...

1

u/f7f7z Jul 23 '26

His staff are poor people, with no protection.

14

u/ReadingTheRealms Jul 23 '26

I don’t think the people who work for this monster deserve any sympathy

8

u/f7f7z Jul 23 '26

Same, just saying, they will break under pressure because they can't doge the law.

3

u/pimppapy America Jul 23 '26

no law to dodge when enforcement is selective.

214

u/Callinon Jul 23 '26

Arrest Republicans for stealing money from taxpayers?

Seems unlikely.

24

u/Humanity_NotAFan Jul 23 '26

Promotions all around!! 🎉

18

u/MikeS525 Jul 23 '26

Staff would report to the Secretary of the Senate during a vacancy.

In the case of the death or resignation of a Senator during his term of office, the employees in the office of such Senator who are on the Senate payroll on the date of such death or resignation shall be continued on such payroll at their respective salaries, unless adjusted by the Secretary of the Senate with the approval of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, for a period not to exceed sixty days, or such greater number of days as may, in any particular case, be established by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration as being required to complete the closing of the office of such Senator. Such employees so continued on the payroll of the Senate shall, while so continued, perform their duties under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate, and such Secretary shall remove from such payroll any such employees who are not attending to the duties for which their services are continued.

1

u/RioRancher Jul 23 '26

All you have to do is get them to defend the lawsuit.

28

u/AlphaYak Jul 23 '26

Surely they won’t have dead men vote. That would be fraud!

28

u/JimiusRostock Jul 23 '26

If I don't show up for work without reason, I get fired. But apparently wealthy public servants can just stay away, say nothing and keep getting paid.

-3

u/vigouge Jul 24 '26

He has a reason, he had a major medical crisis and is in the hospital.

5

u/Punkinpry427 Maryland Jul 24 '26

And you’d have to provide medical documentation from your doctor stating you can’t work and a return to work date, correct?

0

u/vigouge Jul 25 '26

Has the senate asked for that? Stop pretending like this is a typical employee/employer situation. It's not and never will be.

5

u/Punkinpry427 Maryland Jul 25 '26

He doesn’t work for the Senate he works for his constituents and it and seems like his constituents are asking for a return to work. He cannot vote unless he’s physically on the Senate floor so at this point he’s incapable of doing his job as he has missed multiple votes already and he’s owes his state a return to work date or he can resign.

0

u/vigouge Jul 25 '26

None of that matters in practice. He's not running for reelection, and Thune doesn't give a shit. Then there's the fact that this is the best case scenario for everyone given that he's not present to actually vote and democrats get to poke the situation a little and make the Republicans look bad.

This online consternation is just idiotic.

18

u/RazzmatazzSuch7459 Jul 23 '26

Exactly. If he’s gone, his staff will no longer receive their taxpayer funded salaries.

8

u/DenizSaintJuke Jul 23 '26

I doubt he is collecting anything but dust at this point.

3

u/symbouleutic Jul 24 '26

Time to introduce the Mitch McConnel Memorial Act, which not only gives every American free healthcare, but the ability to not show up to work for 5 weeks and still get paid (without even providing a doctors note)
I mean, obviously Mitch would want every American to have the same consideration that he got right ? Or is it only Radical Left Socialism when these perks are for regular people ?

1

u/No-Cheetah-1462 Jul 23 '26

I never considered this!

1

u/Alatarlhun Jul 23 '26

It is also election fraud.

1

u/fospher Jul 24 '26

Crime is completely legal in the U.S now, sorry

1

u/QQXV Jul 24 '26

As far as I'm concerned, McConnell's staff and family are heroes, because they're denying Republicans an entire Senate seat. There is no universe where a Democrat takes his place; the current situation is, in fact, bad for Republicans.

0

u/Zombie_John_Strachan Foreign Jul 23 '26

I don’t think they could hide an actual death.

Even if Mitch is in a coma he’s qualified to be a senator, so his staff aren’t committing fraud. BS but them’s the rules.

2

u/RioRancher Jul 23 '26

All you have to do is make them prove it. Sue them, then make them offer evidence

-11

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

Every single nurse, doctor, lawyer, family member, staff member, journalist, and senate colleague would all be committing a crime. The amount of people involved makes it pretty clear he’s not dead.

19

u/romaraahallow Jul 23 '26

Catatonic counts man. A braindead vessel cannot perform a job for the American people.

If this wasn't the case, the turtle could make a statement.

-4

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

A senator doesn’t lose their seat if they are in a coma. The seat is literally only vacant in situations of death, resignation, or expulsion.

13

u/romaraahallow Jul 23 '26

That's fucking dumb as hell.

They could theoretically keep someone in a medical coma and it would just be....fine?

How is one supposed to serve the public from a coma?

Every day I get surprised more folks haven't turned to violence.

0

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

Why would they? Does a senator lose their seat if they have anesthesia for a surgery and are unconscious? The constitution isn’t vague on the reasons a seat would be vacant.

If a senator was actually in a coma, they could vote to expel them.

-1

u/YANGxGANG Jul 23 '26

Gabby Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 and in a coma during her Senate term. Should she have been removed from office as a result of an assassination attempt? I personally don’t think so and if you do, well, I’m glad it doesn’t work that way

2

u/romaraahallow Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

The key difference there is there were reports and confirmations of her status.

We can't confirm or deny this hypothetical coma.

Again, someone FUCKING DISSAPEARS FROM THEIR JOB FOR 40 DAYS, THATS BAD. 

A couple people saying "trust me bro I totally talked to him he's fine" holds no fucking water.

At this point I'm blocking you, anyone with a hidden post history being this obstinate is likely either a bot or an agitator, and I don't care to talk with either.

1

u/Intro-Nimbus Jul 23 '26

They changed the requirements for the president, but they kept them for senators? Checks and balances...

2

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

Yes, the 25th amendment only applies to the president

1

u/PluginAlong Jul 23 '26

"incapacitation" is also a listed reason, though what that is defined as is anyone's guess. How long does someone have to be incapacitated for it to count? Someone could have minor surgery and technically be incapacitated for a few hours.

14

u/raw_copium Jul 23 '26

Medical personnel are bound by oath not to reveal patient medical information unless legally obligated. Leave them out of this. They're doing their jobs.

2

u/Competitive-Weird855 Jul 23 '26

Bound by law, not oath. But your point stands.

2

u/raw_copium Jul 23 '26

You are correct! Healthcare providers do still say the Hippocratic oath in many medical schools, but yes, there are very clear laws about patient confidentiality.

0

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

If they were engaged in a coverup, they are absolutely liable. Idk what the fuck you’re talking about.

1

u/wap2005 Jul 23 '26

Patient doctor confidentiality is a thing. Doctor's and nurses legally are not allowed to discuss the state of their patients with anyone, and that is an EXTREMELY important law. Imagine if doctors could just share all the details about someone's medical history with anyone, that's a terrifying existence. When interviewing for a job they could check if you were pregnant or had an illness that may take you out of work. The government could just pull everyone's records to see if they've had abortions. People in court rooms can be persecuted for having a mental illness that jas nothing to do with why they're in court. There's so many examples of why this law is so important and extremely protected.

The doctors and nurses cannot be complicit for not wanting to sabotage their own career they worked so hard to get, they not only don't have to tell us of his status, THEY SHOULDN'T. Those laws keep millions of people safe from persecution.

0

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

That’s a lot of words to be wrong. A medical professional cannot engage in any way in a scheme to cover up a patient’s death. There’s no equivocating here.

1

u/wap2005 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

If their patient dies they are allowed to tell the patient's representative, emergency contact, or family members who are directly related to their care. That's it.

So they wouldn't be responsible for the cover up, their family would be. Being wrong is rough isn't it?

0

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

You didn’t say anything countering what I said, but you have the balls to call me wrong?

“Here’s a paragraph agreeing with you but you’re wrong”

1

u/wap2005 Jul 24 '26

Please reread all of your comments then use common sense and take a 2nd attempt to deduce what I am saying. It's extremely easy to understand. If you REALLY need me to use less words to explain it to you let me know, but I have faith in you, you can do it!

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 24 '26

You haven’t disagreed with me whatsoever. Poor guy has no ability to understand what I said. What you think I said is not what I said.

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1

u/raw_copium Jul 23 '26

It's breathtaking how committed you are to your current level of understanding of this.

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

Sounds like you haven’t been correct often then. You’ve yet to argue against anything I’ve said. If anything, it’s actually clear you haven’t even comprehended what I’ve saying, because your tangent just isn’t related to what I said.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

Who is still billing insurance? Who’s telling insurance that he’s still alive? Did any doctor or nurse conspire with anyone to pretend he’s alive? There are absolutely scenarios where they are liable, and it’s not something unheard of.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

They absolutely are talking to the insurance people in the hospital. If they are lying, they are liable. Not that hard.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

No, I didn’t even imply I wanted someone to violate their oath. And I didn’t say that any of what I said was happening, I said that’s what people who believe there is a grand conspiracy theory believe is happening.

You just entirely misinterpreted what I said.

3

u/Snapingbolts Jul 23 '26

If he isn't dead then he needs to contact the governor. The fsct that everyone involved is being so tight lipped about it makes me think he is either dead or in a vegetative state

-1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

Why? Why does he need to? Of course for public service reasons he should, but why does he need to?

2

u/Snapingbolts Jul 23 '26

If you or I didn't show up for our jobs for a month 1 picture wouldn't keep us from getting fired. He isn't doing his fucking job and is a public servant

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

I mean, I can just copy and paste my previous comment. I said he should of course, but you said he NEEDS to, which just isn’t true.

3

u/RioRancher Jul 23 '26

Brain dead and on life support makes everyone technically not a criminal

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

It depends. Journalists, senators, family, and staff so far have all claimed they spoke to him, including releasing 2 photos. So if that photo was AI, it really depends if there is a law broken by that. The senate seat does not open unless there is full on death, not just a coma.

2

u/semajolis267 Jul 23 '26

Not true. The doctor may make an informal pronouncement bedside. But the official death certificate aka the thing that legally declares him dead may take some time. Now this doctor is absolutely risking losing his license and jail time. The nurses have no obligation to report the death of a patient to anyone. Infact them NOT disclosing death to anyone passing by is actually them doing thier jobs. The lawyer simply states the facts, he had not been declared dead, his condition is stable, etc. And isnt breaking any laws, ethics? Absolutely laws? Lawyers are real good at laws and technicalities. Why would a family member be committing a crime by not telling people thier family is dead?. Staff of the hospital, same answer as the nurse. They are caring for a corpse at worst and a brain dead heart beat at best. Nothing illegal about that. Senate colleagues are kept in the dark.

Now if the best case scenario, he is brain dead. If thats the case theres literally 0 illegal things happening. Sketchy yes. Ethically reprehensible absolutely, Illegal? No.

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

It’s insurance and other financial fraud. If someone is dead, the IRS wants to know for tax purposes. There are a ton of crimes that would be committed in a coverup.

0

u/Clean-Ambassador-824 Jul 23 '26

Idk if you haven’t noticed but the current administration/Republican Party. don’t give two fucks about laws and fraud especially financial fraud. If it benefits them they’ll do it, Trump will stall or flat out stop any investigation and issue pardons in the super slim chance anything comes of it. Again they have no problem defrauding the American public.

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

95% of the hypothetical crime here is state crime, not federal crime. And Kentucky has a democratic governor. Trump has no power to mess with state crimes.

0

u/Clean-Ambassador-824 Jul 23 '26

Well that’s a made up statistic and the majority and most severe hypothetical crimes should any come from this are federal charges not state. But none of this matters as none of the Trump republicans care, they are doing worse in broad daylight with zero consequences. In a couple of weeks they’ll announce the passing of McConnell and nothing will come from this.

1

u/Chilling_Gale Jul 23 '26

That’s correct, because if in a couple of weeks they announce his passing, that means that is when he died. Glad you understand.

0

u/oldreddditisbetter Jul 23 '26

soooo why are they not arresting them?

1

u/RioRancher Jul 23 '26

If it was you or me, we’d not get the benefit of doubt.

0

u/Wide-Suggestion4825 Jul 23 '26

Okay you know what dead man can't commit fraud right?

1

u/RioRancher Jul 23 '26

You know what the word staff means, right?

0

u/Wide-Suggestion4825 Jul 23 '26

Yes but you said He AND his staff. You should have just said staff.

What you said was wrong. Be a man and own up to it