The longest-serving Republican party leader in the history of the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell, said he would step down in the next term.
"One of life’s 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 in a floor speech Wednesday.
McConnell, 82, said he plans to serve the rest of his current term in the Senate, his seventh, which runs until early 2027 but will leave the leadership in the new year.
"I’ll complete my job my colleagues have given me until we select a new leader in November and they take the helm next January,” he said.
His announcement comes as Republicans are all but certain to nominate former President Donald Trump to run against President Joe Biden this year. McConnell and Trump had an uneasy alliance during Trump’s first term, before it broke down after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
McConnell held a firm grasp on Senate Republicans for years, but some members of the party have grown restless in recent years. McConnell won reelection as Republican leader in 2022, but faced a challenge from Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a McConnell critic, McConnell’s announcement "good news,” but said the conference needs new leadership now.
McConnell didn’t directly refer to Trump and his role in the party during his remarks Wednesday, although he did tout the recent to provide supplemental funding to Ukraine, among other countries, that split the Republican Conference and faces an uncertain future in the House.
"I’m unconflicted about the good within our country and the irreplaceable role we play as the leader of the free world,” he said. "It’s why I worked so hard to get the national security package passed earlier this month.”
McConnell suggested that he’ll continue to be a reliable sparring partner for those who disagree with him.
"I still have enough gas in my tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm with which they’ve become accustomed,” he said.
At a time when the Republican Party has seemed to move away from its traditionally expansive view of America’s role in the world, McConnell has been steadfast.
"No one in the Republican Party has echoed the themes of peace through strength - the Reagan model of national security - better than Senator Mitch McConnell,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement after McConnell’s remarks. "He passionately believes in a strong America leading from the front and has been uncompromising in his view that we must deal with threats rather than wish them away.”
Three of McConnell’s deputies, the No. 2 Senate Republican John Thune of South Dakota, No. 3 Senate Republican John Barrasso and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a former Republican whip, are all expected to be contenders to replace McConnell.
Thune and Cornyn both sat in the chamber during McConnell’s announcement. Other colleagues in the chamber included Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Cynthia Lummis, along with Senate Majority Leader Sens. Charles E. Schumer and independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
The announcement comes as Republicans are seeking to retake control of the chamber, where Democrats have a 51-49 operational majority but have to defend seats in three states that Trump won in 2020. In recent weeks, McConnell saw some of those races, and his decision now means candidates running this year will not have to say whether or not they would support him for leader.
"During my years in the Senate, Mitch McConnell and I rarely saw eye to eye when it came to our politics or our policy preferences,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. "But I am very proud that we both came together in the last few years to lead the Senate forward at critical moments when our country needed us, like passing the CARES Act in the early days of the COVID pandemic, finishing our work to certify the election on January 6th, and more recently working together to fund the fight for Ukraine.”
McConnell won a round of applause after his speech, and a hug from Collins, and later Sinema. Schumer crossed the aisle to shake hands with McConnell. Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, gave a short speech thanking McConnell, a longtime committee member, while he remained on the floor.
McConnell’s sister-in-law was killed in a car crash earlier this month, which he said had led to a "particularly difficult time” for his family. "When you lose a loved one, particularly at a young age, there is a certain introspection that accompanies the grieving process,” he said. "Perhaps it is God’s way of reminding you of your own life’s journey to reprioritize the impact on the world that we will all inevitably leave behind.”
