Where’s Mitch?

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is doing everything but his job.

Why? Subservience to the toddler in the White House, of course.

• It’s day 27 of the #TrumpShutdown, and McConnell has yet to allow one vote on legislation to re-open the government (even legislation the Senate previously passed in unanimous fashion).

• Multiple bills aimed at funding individual government agencies have passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. And yet, no Senate vote.

• 800,000 federal employees aren’t receiving paychecks, including members of the U.S. Coast Guard. Blame sits directly on McConnell’s shoulders.

• Instead of allowing a vote to reopen the government, McConnell is focusing on making it even harder for women to access abortion services.

McConnell claims he won’t bring a bill to the floor that won’t receive Trump’s support. News for the Leader: The Senate can vote to override the President’s veto.

First-term House Democrats, from whom McConnell is evidently hiding, are asking the right question: Where’s Mitch?

TOP 5: THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN COLLUSION

Last night, Trump legal spokesperson Rudy Giuliani backtracked on his insistence that there was “no collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia, and now only denies that Trump himself had a hand in hacking the DNC.

That’s probably a good idea, considering there’s no longer any doubt that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to secure the presidency of the United States.

5 key examples (courtesy of the Moscow Project):

• #1: Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner took the infamous June 9 meeting at Trump Tower with Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton.

• #2: The Trump campaign employed Carter Page, a suspected Russian agent who traveled to Moscow and met with Russian leaders with express permission from Trump campaign leadership.

• #3: While he was Trump’s campaign chairman, Manafort reportedly passed polling data to a Russian agent in hopes the man would forward it to two oligarchs friendly with the Kremlin.

• #4: Trump adviser Roger Stone secretly communicated with WikiLeaks. Through these communications, he appears to have learned in advance about the Kremlin’s plans, allowing the Trump campaign to strategize accordingly (though he has denied advanced knowledge).

• #5: Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos apparently knew that Russia had stolen and planned to publish Clinton campaign emails. Then he lied about it—and paid the price.

THINKING CAP: “IT’S A NEW DAY.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) knows a thing or two about the politics of power.

As the new chairwoman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Waters dropped by this week to deliver a speech on what she sees as the chief priorities of her committee—and how she plans to hold both the Trump administration and bad financial actors accountable. She also laid out her committee’s role in pushing for stronger consumer protections, tackling the housing crisis, and increasing diversity in the financial sector.

Check out the new episode here.