Mitch McConnell To Step Down As Senate Republican Leader

WASHINGTON ― Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his intention to step down from Senate leadership in November, underscoring the tectonic shift in the Republican Party in recent years away from Ronald Reagan toward the tone and vision of former President Donald Trump.

Speaking from the Senate floor on Wednesday, McConnell grew emotional and reflected on his age and the direction of his party under Trump, the likely 2024 GOP presidential nominee. The Kentucky senator’s influence in his conference has waned in recent years and he has had several health scares that slowed him considerably.

“Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time. I have many faults ― discerning Senate politics is not one of them,” the 82-year-old senator said on the floor.

“One of life’s underappreciated moments is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter. This will be my last term as Republican leader in the Senate,” he added.

McConnell was first elected to the upper chamber in 1984 during Reagan’s administration. He quickly moved up the ranks and became party leader in 2007 after Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist stepped down from the post, earning a reputation as a ruthless Machiavellian tactician. Last year, he fulfilled a longtime goal by becoming the longest-serving Senate leader in history.

The Kentucky Republican’s tenure as GOP leader has been extremely consequential. He reshaped the federal judiciary with hundreds of conservative judges, denied President Barack Obama the appointment of a Supreme Court justice, and helped Trump to appoint three conservative justices, shifting the balance of power on the high court for the first time in decades. The Supreme Court’s repeal of Roe v. Wade