ESPN REPORT : The Kentucky Head Coach Is Being Fire Due To…
A bill that deprives Democratic Governor Andy Beshear of the authority to temporarily appoint anyone to open U.S. Senate seats was enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly on Thursday.
Mitch McConnell, the 82-year-old senior senator from Kentucky, has declared that he will step down from the Senate in 2027 once his current term ends. House Bill 622 was approved by the Kentucky Senate on Thursday. It will move to Governor Beshear’s desk for his approval and forbid the governor from appointing a temporary replacement for McConnell in the event that he steps down, gets expelled, or passes away while in office. (RELATED: A sister-in-law of Mitch McConnell’s was found dead in a pond and is the subject of a criminal investigation.)
The bill would mandate that any vacancies in the Senate be filled by special election.
Republican Kentucky Senate President Robert Striver stated of the bill, “It would be a direct voice of the people determining how the vacancy is filled — not an appointment of any individual with any criteria set by the legislature,” as reported by the Kentucky Independent. A few Democrats voted in favor of the bill, which was approved by a vote of 34 in favor and 3 against.
According to the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, state legislatures have the authority to use their executive branch to appoint “temporary [senator] members until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.” The purpose of the provision is to guarantee that no state will lose its equal right to vote in the Senate during the interim between a vacancy and the special election that follows, so long as the state is fully represented in the Senate during crucial votes.
In response to the bill’s introduction, Beshear said, “[Governors of both parties have had the] type of authority that they’re trying to tear away from me in my time as governor,” according to the Kentucky Independent. “We are not performing or engaging in good government if we are just focused on trying to create results based on what letter someone would have behind their name if appointed.”
Having defeated both former Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron and then-incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019 and 2023, Beshear, a Democrat, has been the governor of Republican-leaning Kentucky since 2019. The state has a Cook Partisan Voting Index Score of R+16. He is the son of former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear, a Democrat.
Republicans are worried that Beshear, a Democrat with a lot of popularity, might unseat McConnell in an election. In February, McConnell’s fellow Republican and Kentucky’s other senator, Sen. Rand Paul, expressed a similar opinion on Fox News, speculating that he might win with a sizable lead.
McConnell announced his retirement following a number of public health incidents that cast doubt on his suitability to hold public service. He froze during press conferences at least twice, requiring assistants and colleagues to lead him away. He also had a concussion after a fall on a different occasion.
Beshear has not said if he will veto the legislation. Republicans can override his veto since they control both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly with a two-thirds majority.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the Kentucky Office of the Governor.
Discussion about this post