Mitch McConnell will step aside as Senate Republican leader in November, ending a record-breaking run, the Associated Press first reported Wednesday.
The 82-year old Kentucky Republican, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 1985 and as GOP leader since 2007, made the announcement himself in a speech from the chamber early Wednesday afternoon.
“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” McConnell said. “So I stand before you today ... to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”
“Father Time remains undefeated,” McConnell said. “I am no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name. It is time for the next generation of leadership.”
McConnell, who was last re-elected in 2020, said he would "finish the job the people of Kentucky hired me to do," indicating his plan to serve until his current term ends in 2027.
"I still have enough gas left in my tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics," he quipped.
The longtime leader's decision to step aside marks the end of an era for his party and the chamber itself. A race to succeed McConnell, which has played out in the shadows for months, will now burst into the open.
Few senators have been more consequential than McConnell, whose ruthless approach to wielding power reshaped the country and government institutions, chiefly the federal judiciary.
But the rise of Donald Trump complicated McConnell's ironclad command of the Senate Republican conference. His Reaganite instincts clashed with the former president's populist movement and its adherents, causing friction even as McConnell carried out key planks of Trump's agenda as president.
Recent years saw McConnell's physical and political strength tested in unprecedented ways. In November 2022, he fended off a challenge to his leadership post from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and hard-right members of his conference.
Questions over McConnell's future grew more urgent after a series of health crises last year, which included several falls, an extended hospital stay, and two public scares in which the senator was unable to speak during press conferences.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Mitch McConnell to Step Down as Senate Republican Leader in November
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28.02.2024
Mitch McConnell will step aside as Senate Republican leader in November, ending a record-breaking run, the Associated Press first reported Wednesday.
The 82-year old Kentucky Republican, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 1985 and as GOP leader since 2007, made the announcement himself in a speech from the chamber early Wednesday afternoon.
“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” McConnell said. “So I stand before you today ... to say that this will be my last term........
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