FATHER TIME TO PASS THE MANTLE
Mitch, 82, ending record reign as Sen. leader
Mitch McConnell, the longestserving Senate leader in history, and one of the most powerful, announced Wednesday he will step down from that position after the November elections — and suggested he may retire at the end of his current term in 2027 to hand off to “the next generation of American leadership.”
“I turned 82 last week, and the end of my contributions are closer than I prefer,” a visibly emotional McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the Senate floor. “I’m filled with heartfelt gratitude and humility for the opportunity.
“When I got here, I was just happy if anybody remembered my name,” added McConnell, apparently referencing a flub by Ronald Reagan during a 1984 visit to Kentucky, during which the Gipper called him “Mitch O’Donnell.”
“If you would have told me 40 years later that I would stand before you as the longest serving Senate leader in US history, frankly I would’ve thought you lost your mind,” the minority leader went on.
“To serve Kentucky in the Senate has been the honor of my life, to lead my Republican colleagues has been the highest privilege.”
McConnell’s decision to step away from leadership punctuates a powerful ideological transition underway in the Republican Party, from Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and strong international alliances to the fiery, often isolationist populism of former President Donald Trump.
The octogenarian faced down brief and unsuccessful challenges to his leadership position, most notably by Florida Sen. Rick Scott last year, and struggled to weather recent turmoil over spending packages with military aid for Ukraine that split the Republican conference.
“Nearly every Republican Senator under the age of 55 voted NO on this America Last bill,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) posted on X after a funding measure with Ukraine aid sans border provisions passed the Senate this month.
“15 out of 17 elected since 2018 voted NO,” he noted. “Things are changing just not fast enough.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) would be next in line for the leadership position, followed by conference chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), seen as a potential uniter of factions within the GOP caucus.
Trump estrangement
A Republican aide said Scott could make “another run for the hard right of the caucus,” and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) may also make a bid.
“Whoever it is,” a second GOP aide said, “we will be working hard to extract lots of guarantees and concessions for conservatives from them.”
McConnell is the lone remaining member of Republican congressional leadership not to endorse Trump’s 2024 White House bid.
While McConnell boosted Trump’s first-term legacy by helping steer all three of Trump’s Supreme Court nominations through Senate confirmation, the two have been estranged since the minority leader refuted Trump’s claim that voter fraud cost Trump the 2020 election.
Following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, McConnell assigned blame and responsibility to Trump and said the defeated expresident should be held to account through the criminal-justice system for his actions.
McConnell’s critics insist he could have done more, including voting to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial. McConnell did not, arguing that since Trump was no longer in office, he could not be subject to impeachment.
Ahead of last Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Donald Trump Jr. told reporters he anticipated McConnell being replaced as Senate GOP leader in the near future in favor of “guys like a J.D. Vance, people who are willing to actually call out sort of ‘the club.’ ”
Unrelated to his health
Aides said McConnell’s announcement was unrelated to his health. The Kentucky senator had a concussion from a fall last year and two public episodes where his face briefly froze while he was speaking.
Instead, McConnell cited the recent death of his wife’s youngest sister as a moment that prompted introspection.
“As I have been thinking about when I would deliver some news to the Senate, I always imagined a moment when I had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work,” McConnell said. “A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today.”
While McConnell’s critics within the GOP conference had grown louder, their numbers had not grown appreciably larger, a marker of McConnell’s strategic and tactical skill and his ability to understand the needs of fellow Republican senators.
McConnell endorsed Reagan’s view of America’s role in the world and the senator has persisted in the face of opposition, including from Trump, that Congress should pass a foreign-assistance package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine.
“I am unconflicted about the good within our country and the irreplaceable role we play as the leader of the free world,” McConnell said.
Against long odds, he managed to secure 22 GOP votes for the package now being considered by the House.