WASHINGTON – Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced Thursday he will become chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Rules Committee when the up-to-date Congress convenes in January.
“America’s national security interests face the greatest threats since World War II,” McConnell wrote in the announcement. “At this critical moment, a new Republican majority in the Senate has the responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and dominance.”
Maine Sen. Susan Collins currently holds the top Republican spot on the defense subcommittee that drafts the Pentagon’s $825 billion annual spending bill.
Collins is expected to become chair of the full Budget Committee next year, and McConnell said in the statement he looks forward to working with her “to achieve our shared goal.”
It was not immediately clear Thursday whether Collins would become chair of any of the Budget Committee’s other 11 subcommittees.
The current chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Patty Murray, D-Wash., not only chairs the entire panel, but is also chair of the Energy-Water subcommittee, for example.
McConnell will also take over the Senate Rules Committee, one of the oldest panels in the chamber, where meetings take place a wide-ranging jurisdiction.
“Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political expression in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities,” McConnell wrote in his statement. “Ranking member Deb Fischer has done an outstanding job promoting these causes, and I know she will remain an important partner in the committee’s ongoing work.”
Republican Senator from Nebraska, Fischer secured re-election this year against a closer-than-expected challenge from an independent candidate in the Cornhusker State.
Thune takes over from McConnell
McConnell remained an energetic member of both the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Rules Committee after becoming Senate Republican leader in 2007.
He will step down from that leadership role when the up-to-date Congress begins in January, but will remain a member of the Senate.
Republicans in the Senate chosen John Thune of South Dakota will become majority leader once they take control of the upper chamber in January after flipping four seats in this year’s election.
McConnell is up for re-election in 2026 and has not yet said whether he will seek another six-year term in the Senate or opt for retirement.
McConnell, 82, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984.
Last updated on November 21, 2024 at 5:36 p.m
