Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Wednesday that he will introduce a measure to rename the Russell Senate Office building after the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), restarting the effort first proposed following the longtime lawmaker’s passing last August.
“I look forward to soon re-introducing my legislation re-naming the Russell Senate Building after American hero, Senator John McCain,” Schumer wrote on social media this morning.
I look forward to soon re-introducing my legislation re-naming the Senate Russell Building after American hero, Senator John McCain.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 20, 2019
Schumer did not provide a timeline or additional details regarding the proposed resolution.
Upon McCain’s death, the New York Democrat said he would bring forward a bill to rename the Senate building, which was named after former Sen. Richard Brevard Russell Jr. (D-GA) in 1972. The building opened in 1909. Schumer and then-Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) sent a letter to fellow senators asking that they get behind the proposal.
At the time, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wouldn’t commit to the idea, saying he would appoint a bipartisan group to convene after Labor Day to “think thoroughly through the appropriate way to honor our colleague.”
“We’ll be talking about the best way to honor Sen. McCain,” McConnell he told reporters when asked about the idea.
Schumer’s proposal comes as tensions between President Donald Trump and the McCain family have faired up once again. Over the weekend, the president criticized the late lawmaker’s involvement in handing over the largely discredited Steele dossier. His remarks prompted daughter Meghan McCain to fire back at the president, responding “no one will ever love you the way they loved my father.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday, President Trump continued his critique on McCain, stating he was “never a fan” of the Arizona Republican and “never will be.”
“I’m very unhappy that he didn’t repeal and replace Obamacare as you know, he campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare for years,” he added. “And then he got to a vote and he said thumbs down.”
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