Newly Empowered, Mitch McConnell Promises an End to ‘Gridlock’

Fresh from his own re-election victory and his party’s powerful showing nationwide, Senator Mitch McConnell on Wednesday pledged to break the stalemate in Washington as newly empowered congressional Republicans moved quickly to demonstrate that they can get things done. “We’re going to pass legislation,” Mr. McConnell said at a news conference in Louisville, Ky. “This gridlock and dysfunction can be ended.”

Despite their new majority in the Senate and an expanded one in the House, Republicans face multiple difficulties, not the least of which are internal divisions. But t