Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on President Donald Trump to use his constitutional powers to bring the Senate back into session, ramping up her efforts to force Republicans to act against gun violence.
The unusual request — which would be extraordinary if Trump were to agree — comes as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has rejected Democratic demands to cut short the August recess and vote to require universal background checks on gun sales after two deadly mass shootings over the weekend.
“Today, as Speaker of the House, I am writing in good faith to request that you call the United States Senate back into session immediately…to consider House-passed bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Trump.
The speaker cited a section of the Constitution that allows the president to convene the House, Senate or both chambers “on extraordinary occasions.”
“This extraordinary moment in our history requires all of us to take extraordinary action to save lives,” Pelosi wrote. “However, Leader Mitch McConnell, describing himself as the ‘grim reaper,’ has been an obstacle to taking any action.”
McConnell has called himself that in reference to the blockade he’s erected against progressive legislation passed by the House.
The Kentucky Republican said Thursday he wouldn't bring the Senate back early but did express openness to considering various gun control ideas, including background checks.
“If we did that, we’d just have people scoring points and nothing would happen. There has to be a bipartisan discussion here of what we can agree on,” McConnell said of ending recess early in an interview with Kentucky radio host Terry Meiners.
“We’re going to have these bipartisan discussions and when we get back, hopefully be able to come together and actually pass something,” added McConnell, who spoke with Trump Thursday morning.
Trump has broadly expressed support for background checks multiple times since mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, left at least 31 people dead and many more wounded.
“There is a great appetite, and I mean a very strong appetite, for background checks. And I think we can bring up background checks like we’ve never had before,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday as he prepared to visit first responders and victims in both Dayton and El Paso.
Trump added he’s “all in favor” of the idea. But the president, notably, has not pressured McConnell or other Republicans to take up background checks legislation that passed the House in February.
House Democrats have privately debated whether they too should come back to Washington during the six-week August recess to pass additional gun control bills after the latest deadly shootings.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee discussed the idea during a private call Wednesday and sources on the panel say it’s likely members come back later this month to vote on additional legislation in committee.
Pelosi has left the door open to the full House returning to the Capitol if necessary, but she and other top House Democrats argue their best strategy is to pressure McConnell to take up a pair of background checks bills that passed the House earlier this year.
McConnell has refused to consider the legislation for months and Trump issued a veto threat when the House voted on the bills in February. Instead, Republicans have advocated for “red flag” laws, which allow police or relatives to temporarily block people’s access to firearms if they are a danger to themselves or others.
Voters — both Republicans and Democrats — strongly back strengthening background checks, according to public surveys. A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted after the shootings found that more than 90 percent of those polled support background checks for all gun purchases.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine