McConnell has stayed relatively quiet, except to reaffirm that Senate Republicans stand by Trump. This week, he blocked Democrats’ efforts to pass bills to reopen the government and chided Democrats for filibustering unrelated legislation he tried to move during the shutdown. He skipped two of Trump’s lengthy appearances before reporters at the White House, even though his House Republican counterparts stood behind the president. Aides say he didn’t know about the first news conference.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 11, 2019 20:05 UTC