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Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S. history who has played a critical role in Washington for decades, will step down from his post as Republican minority leader in November.
McConnell announced his decision to step down as leader of the Senate in a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday. He said he would remain in Congress to serve the remainder of his term as Kentucky’s senior senator, until early 2027.
“One of life’s most underrated talents is knowing when it’s time to move on to the next chapter in life,” he said. “So today I stand before you. . . to say that this will be my last term as Senate Republican leader.”
McConnell, first elected to the Senate in 1984, has long been seen as a shrewd lawmaker who has commanded the unwavering support of his allies for decades. A prolific fundraiser, he has also played a central role in recruiting Republican candidates for Congress.
But McConnell’s grip on Republican senators has loosened in the context of the rise of Donald Trump and his more populist version of Republican politics.
The relationship between McConnell and Trump has soured in recent years, and the Kentucky senator is one of the few senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill who has yet to endorse the former president’s latest bid for the White House.
McConnell, who turned 82 last week, has faced repeated questions about his health and fitness for office after suffering a serious fall last year that sent him to the hospital and resulted in a long absence from the Capitol Hill. He then appeared to stall in two separate episodes while speaking to reporters in the halls of Congress and in his home state of Kentucky.
His office then shared a letter from the congressional attending physician that said the Senate minority leader was “medically capable of continuing with his program.”
McConnell made no mention of his health in his speech, but said it was “time for the next generation of leadership.”
The Senate minority leader highlighted divisions within Republican ranks, including on foreign policy issues. McConnell has been among the party’s most vocal advocates for the United States to provide more aid to Ukraine, despite opposition from many colleagues.
“I know the politics within my party at this particular time. I have many flaws. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them,” McConnell said Wednesday. “That said, I believe more strongly than ever that America’s global leadership is essential to preserving the shining city on the hill that Ronald Reagan spoke of.”
McConnell’s departure from Senate leadership sets the stage for a leadership battle on Capitol Hill, with several Republican colleagues expected to put their names forward to replace him. Possible successors include John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, and John Barrasso of Wyoming.
McConnell and Trump worked together on several major pieces of legislation, as well as the sometimes controversial confirmations of three Supreme Court justices, during the former president’s time in the White House.
McConnell famously blocked consideration of Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the US Supreme Court in 2016, arguing that it would be inappropriate to confirm a justice in an election year. Four years later, in 2020, she helped fast-track Trump’s nomination of conservative Amy Coney Barrett to the nation’s highest court, weeks before Election Day.
But their relationship broke down after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which prompted McConnell’s wife, then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, to resign from Trump’s Cabinet. McConnell called Trump “practically and morally responsible” for the attack.
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McConnell sidestepped questions about whether he supported Trump’s current candidacy for the White House, even though the former president won support from a majority of Republican lawmakers.
Trump did not react publicly to McConnell’s announcement on Wednesday.
But both Republicans and Democrats praised the minority leader’s decades of service.
Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, called it a “passing of the baton” moment for the Senate. Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, said he “rarely agreed” with his Republican counterparts, but was “very proud” that they came together “at critical moments when our country had need us.”
President Joe Biden, who spent four decades in the US Senate before becoming vice president and then president, told reporters he was “sorry to hear” that McConnell would resign. Biden said the two men had a “great relationship,” adding: “We argue like crazy, but he never, ever, ever misrepresented anything.”