WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will step down as Senate Republican leader in November, he said on the Senate floor Wednesday, signaling the end of a run as party leader that broke records in its length and spanned American politics two years has shaped decades.
“One of life’s most underrated talents is knowing when it is time to move on to the next chapter of life,” McConnell said. “It’s time for the next generation of leadership.”
McConnell, who turned 82 last week, cited the death of his wife’s sister a few weeks ago as an event that caused him to consider his future.
“When you lose a loved one, especially at a young age, the grieving process involves a certain amount of introspection,” he said.
President Joe Biden, who spent decades in the Senate before being elected vice president in 2008, said in impromptu remarks Wednesday that he greatly respects McConnell.
“He and I have trust,” he said, according to a White House pool report. “We have a great relationship. We fight like hell, but he never, ever, ever misrepresented anything. I’m sorry to see him resign.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that while he doesn’t “see eye to eye” with McConnell on various policy issues, the New York Democrat is proud of what they’ve accomplished despite their differences.
“I am very proud that the two of us have come together over the past few years to move the Senate forward at critical moments when our country needed us, such as the passage of the CARES Act in the early days of the COVID pandemic or in completing our work to certify the election” on January 6thTh“And more recently, we have been working together to finance the fight for Ukraine,” Schumer said.
McConnell faced increasing pressure to support Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. The two have a strained relationship that reached a breaking point following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol after then-President Trump encouraged his supporters to disrupt the certification of electoral votes in the 2020 election.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the last remaining Republican challenging Trump for her party’s presidential nomination, said at a campaign stop in Utah that McConnell has had an amazing career.”
“We thank him, of course, for his leadership and his service,” Haley said during an appearance in Orem, Utah. “But I applaud him for recognizing that it is time for a new generational change. I think what’s more important is that we need to understand that we don’t just need a new generation in Congress. We also need a new general generational change in the White House.”
Kentucky longest serving senator has shaped the federal justice system, including leading Senate confirmation 234 lifetime appointments to the Bundesbank.
He played a major role in establishing a conservative U.S. Supreme Court by blocking then-Democratic President Barack Obama from appointing a justice before the 2016 presidential election.
In recent years, the conservative Supreme Court has made decisions with far-reaching effects on American society. The court ended the constitutional right to access abortion care, struck down the Biden administration’s plan to forgive student loans and expanded gun rights by limiting states’ power to enact gun safety laws.
New election of the chairman in November
McConnell, who first came to the Senate in 1984 and became Republican leader in 2007, said he would “not be going anywhere” until a novel Republican leader is in place. His term in the Senate ends in January 2027.
“I love the Senate,” McConnell said. “It was my life.”
Senate Republicans will elect a novel leader in November. Possible McConnell successors include Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota, Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming and former Republican Whip John Cornyn of Texas.
“As the longest-serving Senate leader in American history, Mitch McConnell has left an indelible mark on this institution and the Republican Party,” Cornyn said in a statement Post on X. “For more than 17 years, he has been the steady hand at the helm, guiding us through some of the most consequential debates and decisions in recent history.”
Cornyn also thanked McConnell for protecting “the Senate’s essential role under the Constitution,” calling him “pragmatic, knowledgeable, humble and effective.”
Thune said it was “hard to imagine a Senate where Sen. McConnell doesn’t serve as Republican leader,” but indicated he would seek to succeed the Kentuckian.
“For decades he has been a fierce defender of the Senate, our conference and our party, and we are all strengthened by his service,” Thune said in a statement. “Mitch leaves behind tremendous shoes to fill, and I humbly look forward to discussing with my colleagues what the future holds for the Senate Republican Conference and a new generation of leadership.” Until then, thank you, Mitch.”
Barrasso praised McConnell’s record as GOP leader and said Republicans would focus on the November presidential election and handing control of the Senate.
“That’s what I’m focused on,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Thune recently endorsed Trump after Barrasso and Cornyn had already endorsed it.
Accolades from other GOP senators
More allies among McConnell’s Republican colleagues in the Senate rushed to praise him on Wednesday.
Thom Tillis of North Carolina praised McConnell’s achievements in shaping the judiciary and implementing conservative political goals in domestic and foreign policy.
“Leader McConnell is a true legend of the U.S. Senate,” Tillis said in a statement. “Under his historic leadership, the Senate secured a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, passed historic tax reform and enacted bipartisan legislation to save our economy from the abyss at the start of the pandemic.”
Steve Daines of Montana, who also leads the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, also praised McConnell’s role in passing the 2017 tax law, which made sweeping changes to the U.S. tax code.
“He will be remembered not only as the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, but also as a consummate gentleman and dedicated public servant,” Daines said in a statement.
Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia thanked McConnell for his “steadfast leadership and commitment to conservative principles.”
Lindsey Graham from South Carolina wrote on X that McConnell “will be remembered as one of the most effective leaders in U.S. history.”
“No one in the Republican Party has embraced the themes of peace through strength – the Reagan model of national security – better than Senator Mitch McConnell,” he said.
Deb Fischer of Nebraska congratulated McConnell on his decades of work in the Senate.
“Leader McConnell has served as a bulwark of conservative leadership throughout his time in the Senate,” she said wrote on X. “His deep reverence for our institution and his astute view of the future made him an extraordinarily effective leader in all situations.”
GOP split obvious
But the division that has emerged in the Republican Party in recent years between McConnell’s establishment wing and an emerging faction more allied with Trump was also evident in the reaction to McConnell’s announcement.
“I called on McConnell to resign over a year ago,” said Republican Rep. Josh Hawley of Missouri tweeted. “That’s good news. But why wait so long – we need new leadership now.”
The House Freedom Caucus, an influential group of right-wing lawmakers in that chamber, mocked McConnell a tweet That identified him as a Democrat because he took bipartisan action to fund Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.
“Our thoughts are with our Democratic colleagues in the Senate on the resignation of their co-majority leader Mitch McConnell (D-Ukraine),” read a tweet on the caucus’ official account. “You don’t have to wait until November… Senate Republicans should elect a *Republican* Minority Leader IMMEDIATELY.”
U.S. Rep. Bob Good, a Republican from Virginia and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said McConnell’s move could allow for more conservative leadership. Good nominated Florida Senator Rick Scott, who led a failed conservative challenge to oust McConnell as GOP leader in November 2022, as a potential successor to McConnell.
“The resignation of Mitch McConnell presents a great opportunity for true conservative leadership in the Senate,” Good said. Scott “would make a great Republican leader.”
On Wednesday, Scott again called for novel leadership in the Senate.
“As everyone knows, I have challenged Leader McConnell in 2022,” he said in a statement. “This is an opportunity to refocus our efforts on solving the major challenges facing our country and truly reflecting the wishes of voters.”
McKenzie Romero contributed to this report.
