'Grow a Backbone': Rep. Omar Calls on Democrats to Abandon Bipartisanship, Abolish Filibuster

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) took to Twitter on Wednesday to respond to McConnell's remarks, and call out Democratic lawmakers pushing for bipartisanship. 

"Please stop asking us about bipartisanship when this is what the leader of the other party is focused on," she tweeted, quoting a clip of McConnell's virtual news conference. "Democrats can't repeat the mistake of 2009, we must abolish the filibuster & move legislation that helps us deliver progress for the American people." 

"Let's grow a backbone," she concluded.  

The Senate minority leader's comments came in response to reporter queries of his opinion on the future of the Republican party. Recently, reports have claimed GOP lawmakers are attempting to oust the already-embattled Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WI), the No. 3 House Republican, after she claimed on Monday that anyone opposing the 2020 election results is "poisoning our democratic system."

"One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration," McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Wednesday. "We're confronted with severe challenges from a new administration, and a narrow majority of Democrats in the House and a 50-50 Senate to turn America into a socialist country, and that's 100 percent of my focus."

McConnell's comments on blocking the agenda of US President Joe Biden have been likened to his 2010 comments to National Journal ahead of the 2010 Midterm elections. Then-US President Barack Obama was in his first of two terms at the time.  

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president," McConnell told the outlet.

"I don’t want the president to fail; I want him to change," he emphasized later in the interview. 

Biden, who was vice president during Obama's tenure, has contended that their Democratic administration was able to get a lot done in spite of McConnell's partisan push. 

"The president and I have been very clear, including his remarks in the chamber during the joint session of Congress, that we will continue to attempt to work on the most pressing issues facing the American people in a bipartisan manner," Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters on Thursday when asked about McConnell's statement. 

She also asserted the White House would continue to hold bipartisan meetings with US lawmakers.

Harris did not comment on whether the Biden administration supports eliminating the filibuster: a procedural mechanism that allows one, or more senators to stop a bill from reaching a vote on the Senate floor.