WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will step down from the helm of the Republican Conference this year, ending his time as the longest-serving leader in Senate history.
The Kentucky Republican, who has served as GOP leader since 2007, made his announcement in a Senate floor speech Wednesday. An election to replace him as leader will occur in November with his successor taking charge in January.
“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter, so I stand before you today, Mr. President and my colleagues, to say this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate,” McConnell said, adding in his address that he had “total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work.”
President Joe Biden, a longtime friend of McConnell’s despite their frequent sparring over politicss, praised the Republican leader in a statement saying he was proud that they had been able to work together “in good faith even though we have many political disagreements.”
“During his many years of leadership, we could always speak with each other honestly and put the country ahead of ourselves,” Biden said.
McConnell is regarded by colleagues as an effective political tactician and one of the most influential lawmakers in Washington. With then-President Donald Trump, McConnell helped enact a sweeping $1.5 trillion tax package in 2017 that slashed corporate rates, provided new breaks for private businesses and reorganized the individual tax code.
But McConnell’s most consequential legacy dates back to his extraordinary decision in 2016 to refuse to let then-President Barack Obama fill a vacant Supreme Court seat. He went on to shepherd three conservative Supreme Court nominees — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — through the Senate under Trump’s presidency, creating the most right-leaning court in nearly a century and reshaping American law. That court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, ending the national right to abortion, among many other major decisions.
“There are some pretty major victories that the two men together accomplished, and neither one of them could have, probably, without the other,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
But McConnell’s once formidable influence over the Senate GOP has dimmed over the last year as the conference becomes more aligned with Trump, who has a famously frosty relationship with the Republican leader and recently said he didn’t think he could work with McConnell if he’s re-elected president. Trump and McConnell haven’t spoken in more than three years, hitting a breaking point with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. McConnell voted to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial that followed, but he gave a scathing speech on the Senate floor saying the former president was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
Still, aides to both top Republicans have recently held discussions, including an effort to get McConnell to endorse Trump for re-election.
The Republican conference has recently broken with McConnell on matters like Ukraine aid and a bipartisan border security deal. And his critics had promised he would face a challenge if he sought to run again for the leader position.
The race for a successor is expected to begin immediately with the “three Johns” — Senate Minority Whip John Thune, of South Dakota, the No. 3 Republican Sen. John Barrasso, of Wyoming, and former GOP Whip Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas — widely expected to run for the position.
“I plan to support John,” joked Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.
Thune, 63, is the favorite to replace McConnell, given that he’s well regarded by colleagues and the No. 2 GOP leader. But while he endorsed Trump in recent days, Thune has also clashed with the former president and likely GOP 2024 presidential nominee — a fact that could complicate the senator’s bid for the top job.
That could provide an opening for either Barrasso,…
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