McConnell demurs on renaming Senate building after McCain

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday demurred when asked if he supports renaming a Senate office building after GOP Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). 

“We’ll be talking about the best way to honor Sen. McCain,” McConnell told reporters when asked about the idea of renaming the Russell Senate Office Building after McCain, after giving a speech memorializing McCain on the Senate floor.

{mosads}Pressed on if renaming the building was something he was would support, McConnell, who routinely doesn’t respond to hallway questions, didn’t answer as he walked into his office. 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said on Monday that there would likely be a “discussion” and suggested the Rules Committee could take up the issue. 

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is expected to offer a resolution to rename Russell after McCain. The building is currently named after former Georgia Democratic Sen. Richard Brevard Russell, who opposed numerous efforts to pass civil rights legislation. 

Schumer told reporters on Monday that he had picked up some Republican support for his resolution but was unsure when he would try to move it. 

GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) said over the weekend that he would support the resolution.