Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that he would seek reelection next year, defending conservative causes but ultimately for decades as a power broker who ultimately handed over the ground to President Donald Trump’s fierce GOP populism. The tenure of the company has ended.
McConnell, the longest Senate leader in US history, shared his decision not to run for another term in Kentucky, choosing his 83rd birthday, which he would retire when his current term ends. He notified the Associated Press of his decision before addressing his colleagues in a speech on the Senate floor.
“On seven times, my fellow Kentuckians sent me to the Senate,” McConnell said. “Every day in the meantime I am humbled by the trust they have placed on me to do their business here. It was a once-in-a-lifetime honor to represent our Federation. I am. I will not seek this honor for the eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
His presentation begins an epilogue of his renowned career as a master strategist. He built a conservative Supreme Court and piloted the Senate through tax cuts, the Presidential Merger Each Trial, and a fierce political battle.
First elected in 1984, McConnell intends to serve the remaining term, ending in January 2027. Kentucky has a series of medical episodes, including injuries from a fall and the time when his face temporarily frozen while he spoke. .
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell was asked if he would stand up to criticism of President Donald Trump, published in his biography.
The Senator admired his speech in the room as a young intern at the famous implicit McConnell long before he joined the backbench as a freshman MP in the mid-1980s. His dramatic announcement comes almost a year after his decision to abandon his leadership post after the November 2024 election. South Dakota Sen. John Tune is McConnell’s top deputy director and replaced him as the leader of the majority.
McConnell’s looming departure reflects the changing dynamics of the Donald Trump-led GOP. He has seen his strength decline in parallel trajectories of both his health and his relationship with Trump.
In Kentucky, McConnell’s departure marks the loss of strong advocates and causes a competitive GOP primary to become the current Senate seat next year. Kentucky Democratic government Andy Besher is considered a rising star in his party, having won statewide offices on Republican territory, and although he said he has no interest in the Senate, he has a higher office. It is widely regarded as a competitor.
The stubborn McConnell, who protects Ronald Reagan’s traditional brand of conservatism and muscle foreign policy, is increasingly self-aware as GOP shifts towards fiery, often isolated populism. He realized he was supported by Trump.
McConnell provides arms and other aid to Ukraine, and other aid to dodge Russian invasion despite Trump ratcheting criticism of the country and its leader, Volodymi Zelenki. It is still defending the The Senator plans to make it clear on Thursday that defense remains at the forefront of his agenda.
“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, when I arrived in the Senate, the work to strengthen America’s hard power was on track,” McConnell said in a prepared statement. “But since then, we have allowed it to atrophy, and today the dangerous world is threatening to outweigh the work of rebuilding it. So, one of our colleagues has me I will not yet doubt my intentions for the rest of the period: I have some unfinished business to participate.
McConnell and Trump were partners during Trump’s first term, but their relationship was cut off on January 6, 2021 after McConnell denounced Trump for “disgraceful” actions of his supporters’ attack on Capitol. I did. The instant thawing in 2024, when McConnell supported Trump, did not last long.
Last week, Trump called McConnell a “very bitter man” after fighting McConnell, who fought polio as a child. “Scary Man” and “Narcissist” in the Senator’s biographies by Associated Press Deputy Director of Washington Michael Tackett.
Before they left, Trump and McConnell pushed for tax overhauls, focusing primarily on cutting back businesses and high-revenue taxpayers. They joined forces to rebuild the Supreme Court when Trump nominated three judges and McConnell led them to confirm the Senate and tilted the High Court to the right.
McConnell sets a new precedent for hardball party tactics in 2016, refusing President Barack Obama to even hold a hearing on behalf of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to choose Merrick Garland’s Democratic president. I did. Putting the brakes on the Senate’s “advice and consent” role, McConnell said the vacancy should be filled by the next president so that voters can speak out. Trump filled the vacancy once he took office, and McConnell later made Garland’s nomination Stonewalling “the most consequential” achievement.
Then, when liberal justice Ruth Budder Ginsberg passed away a few weeks before Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, McConnell hurried through the Senate to confirm Amy Connie Barrett. shaking away allegations of hypocrisy.
McConnell also led the Senate and Trump through two perch trials that ended innocence.
With the second round each, weeks after the fatal Capitol attacks by mobs hoping to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat, McConnell will go on to all but seven Republicans. I voted to vote. McConnell said he believes Trump will not be convicted because he has already taken office, but the senator also accused him of being “substantially and morally responsible” for the rebellion.
Over the years, McConnell has moved from majority to minority leaders, depending on which party was in power. He failed to defend President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq war and block Obama’s healthcare overhaul.
McConnell, the longest-running senator from Kentucky, has ensured that Bluegrass State receives plenty of federal funds. Back in his hometown, he was a key architect in the rise of his party’s power in a state where the Democrats were long controlled.
He was married to Elaine Chao and they were a power couple in Washington for a long time. In a statement prepared on Thursday, the senator called her his “ultimate teammate and best friend.” Chao was Bush’s Labor Secretary and Transport Secretary during Trump’s first term, but she resigned after the Capitol rebellion, saying she “deeply bothered” her.
McConnell’s farewell words reflected his dedication to the Senate and his disdain for his detractors.
“The Senate is still equipped for jobs that will bring about great results,” he said.
Schleiner reported from Louisville, Kentucky.
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