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, when Congress returns in September.
"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.
McConnell also didn't dismiss the idea of the Senate considering an assault weapons ban, a proposal Trump dismissed Wednesday saying there was "no political appetite" it.
"It's certainly one of the front and center issues," McConnell said of a ban on assault weapons. "Background checks and red flags will probably lead the discussion. ...But what we can't do is fail to pass something."
Trump called Pelosi later Thursday after her letter to discuss the House's universal background checks legislation. The president also talked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a separate call.
"The President gave us his assurances that he would review the bipartisan House-passed legislation and understood our interest in moving as quickly as possible to help save lives," Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.
Republicans, including Trump, have advocated for "red flag" laws in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left at least 31 people dead and many more wounded. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are working on a bipartisan bill which would allow police to restrict someone's access to firearms if they pose a danger to themselves or others.
Trump also has broadly expressed support for background checks multiple times since the shootings over the weekend.
"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 publicly pressured McConnell or other Republicans to take up background checks legislation that passed the House in February.
Voters — Republicans and Democrats alike — 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.
And McConnell's comments on Thursday are a significant shift, at least in rhetoric. The Kentucky Republican in the past has voted against a bipartisan background checks bill from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and for months has refused to consider the House-passed legislation in the Senate.
But some Democrats said McConnell and Trump's words are not enough. Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, whose Florida district includes Parkland where 17 people were gunned down at a high school in 2018, ripped McConnell in an interview on Thursday.
"It shouldn't require the president of the United States using constitutional powers to make Mitch McConnell act," Deutch said. "It should just require Mitch McConnell having some basic sense of decency and commitment to the safety of the American people."
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 will come back later this month to vote on additional legislation in committee.
"It would be more dramatic to have gone back into session the next day but we have to worry about the substance of the work and making sure we're ready to go," said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), a member of the Judiciary Committee.
"I think there is significant willingness on the committee to come back and consider additional gun safety legislation."
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 the pair of background checks bills that passed the House earlier this year.
Deutch, who also sits on the Judiciary panel, said the whole House should cut recess short and pass additional gun control legislation while the issue is at the forefront of Americans' minds.
"We've got to act when people feel the pain, when people are outraged and disgusted by this ongoing inaction by Congress," Deutch said.
"It's not enough to say, 'Well we've done one thing, now we'll just sit back and wait for the Senate to act."
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