KENTUCKY — Senate Minority Leader and Kentucky's senior Sen. Mitch McConnell, R, is our guest this week on In Focus Kentucky.

McConnell was first elected in 1984, and earlier this spring. he started his seventh six-year term that he was elected to in November 2020. 

As lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. in the coming days, Democrats in Congress are hoping to pass the $3.5 trillion spending proposal using the Senate's budget reconciliation process, which could allow the legislation to become law without any Republican votes. However, every Democratic senator would need to vote for the bill due to the upper chamber being evenly split along party lines.

"There's a very, very narrow majority in the House, and they're trying to jam through the biggest tax and spending bill in American history. It is a huge step in the wrong direction. There will be no Republicans in the House or Senate vote for it. For it to pass, every single one of the 50 Senate Democrats will have to sign off on it. And it is a massive step in the wrong direction, huge tax increases on individuals, on companies. Both those that are incorporated and those that aren't. Massive increase taxes on the increase in value of your family farm and your business. Over the course of your life. When you pass away, they now want to tax that what's called the "inside build up on that." It'd be a body blow to America and I'm hoping, since no Republicans are going to vote for it, that there will be a few brave Democrats that will say, 'Enough is enough. We're not going to do this for the American people,'" explained McConnell.

When asked if lawmakers in Washington who are facing gridlock over the national budget can come together to find a solution that appeases both sides of the political aisle, McConnell shared, "This is not one of the things we agree on. You know, I participated in a bipartisan approval of an infrastructure bill earlier this year. I thought it was something that was important to the country that we could do together for the American people. But there's nothing bipartisan about this massive 3.5 to 5 trillion tax increase, which is designed to pay for a bunch of free stuff that once again will make it extremely difficult for us to get people up and running and back at work, like we need to, to have a vibrant economy."