WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection next year, capping a decades-long career as a power broker who championed conservative causes but eventually gave way to President Donald Trump’s fierce GOP populism.
McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in US history, chose his 83rd birthday to announce his decision not to run for another term in Kentucky and to retire at the end of his current term. He informed The Associated Press of his decision before delivering a speech to colleagues on the Senate floor.
“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell said as aides lined the back chamber and senators listened from seats.
“Every day in between, I am humbled by the trust they have placed in me to conduct their business right here. Representing our Commonwealth has been an honour of a lifetime. I will not seek this honour for the eighth time. “My current Senate term will be my last.”
The race for McConnell’s seat heated up soon after McConnell spoke.
Former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, has stated that he is running to succeed his former mentor after serving as McConnell’s legal counsel.
Cameron lost the 2023 governor’s race to Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear, but he has been plotting a political comeback. Cameron stated Thursday that his values are consistent with Kentucky voters and emphasised his support for Trump.
“I am going to be a ‘America First’ senator, and it is time for a new generation of leadership,” Cameron told the Associated Press during a phone interview Thursday evening.
McConnell’s retirement announcement marked the end of a storied career as a master strategist, during which he helped shape a conservative Supreme Court and led the Senate through tax cuts, presidential impeachment trials, and heated political debates.
Nonetheless, with his powerful position on committees and nearly two years left in his term, McConnell vowed to finish his work on several remaining fronts.
“I have some unfinished business to attend to,” he was saying.
McConnell walked gingerly to the podium, wearing a walking boot. Senators from both sides of the political aisle appeared to pay close attention as he explained that, while there are numerous reasons for pessimism, the Senate’s strength is not one of them.
“The Senate is still equipped for work of great consequence,” they heard him say.
As he concluded, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., moved that the audience of senators, staff, and Capitol visitors be allowed to applaud, which is normally not permitted under Senate rules.
Republican senators then gathered to greet McConnell, starting with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who hugged him, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who patted him on the back.
He took out a tissue and told a joke, which made the group laugh. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota greeted him warmly, and a dozen other senators quickly followed suit.
Senator Lindsey Graham claimed McConnell reshaped the American judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court. “He has a lot to be proud of, and I am sure he will work hard to the very end of his term,” Mr. Graham said.
Changing dynamics in the GOP
McConnell was first elected in 1984 and plans to serve until his term expires in January 2027. In recent years, the Kentuckian has dealt with a number of medical issues, including fall-related injuries and instances where his face briefly froze while speaking.
McConnell, a famously quiet man, admired the Senate as a young intern before joining its back benches as a freshman lawmaker in the mid-1980s. His dramatic announcement comes nearly a year after deciding to step down from leadership after the November 2024 election.
McConnell’s impending departure reflects the evolving dynamics of the Trump-led GOP. He is seen his power dwindle in tandem with his health and his relationship with Trump, who once praised him as an ally but has since become a harsh critic.
In Kentucky, McConnell’s departure will result in the loss of a powerful advocate and a competitive GOP primary next year for what will now be an open Senate seat.
Beshear, regarded as a rising star in his party after winning statewide office in Republican territory, has stated that he has no interest in the Senate. Eric Hyers, Beshear’s chief political strategist, reiterated that position on Thursday, writing on X, “He is not running for the Senate.”
Another prominent Kentucky Republican considering the race quickly chimed in. Andy Barr, a US Representative, stated that he would make a decision on his future soon. Nate Morris, a businessman, is also a viable Republican candidate.
They all had one thing in common: they claimed to be loyal to Trump.
McConnell, a staunch supporter of Ronald Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and muscular foreign policy, increasingly found himself at odds with a GOP shift towards Trump’s fiery, often isolationist populism.
Even as Trump intensifies his criticism of Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, McConnell continues to advocate for providing the country with weapons and other aid to deter Russia’s invasion. On Thursday, the senator made it clear that national defence remains a top priority for him.
He and Trump were partners during Trump’s first term, but their relationship ended after McConnell blamed Trump for “disgraceful” actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack by his supporters. A brief thaw in 2024, when McConnell supported Trump, did not last.
Last week, Trump referred to McConnell as a “very bitter guy” after the senator, who had polio as a child, opposed the confirmation of vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation’s top health official.
McConnell described Trump as a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist” in a biography written by The Associated Press’s deputy Washington bureau chief, Michael Tackett.
Shifting the Supreme Court
Prior to their disagreement, Trump and McConnell pushed through a tax overhaul that primarily benefited businesses and higher-income taxpayers.
They collaborated to reshape the Supreme Court when Trump nominated three justices and McConnell shepherded them through Senate confirmation, tilting the court to the right.
In 2016, McConnell set a precedent for hardball partisan tactics by refusing to even hear Democratic President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
McConnell halted the Senate’s “advise and consent” role for judicial nominees, saying the vacancy should be filled by the next president so voters could have a say.
Trump filled the vacancy after taking office, and McConnell later described the obstruction of Garland’s nomination as his “most consequential” accomplishment.
Later, when liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died weeks before Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory, McConnell rushed Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation through the Senate, avoiding accusations of hypocrisy.
McConnell also led the Senate and Trump through two impeachment trials that ended in acquittals.
In the second impeachment, weeks after a deadly Capitol attack by a mob seeking to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat, McConnell voted with all but seven Republicans to acquit. McConnell stated that Trump could not be convicted because he had already left office, but he also condemned Trump as “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection.
McConnell has alternated between majority and minority leader over the years, depending on which party was in power. He defended President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq War and failed to block Obama’s health-care reform plan.
McConnell, the longest-serving senator from Kentucky, ensured that the Bluegrass State received adequate federal funding. Back home, he played a key role in his party’s rise to power in a state previously dominated by Democrats.
He is married to Elaine Chao, and the two have long been a power couple in Washington. The senator described her as his “ultimate teammate and confidante.” Chao served as Bush’s labour secretary and Trump’s transportation secretary during his first term, but she resigned after the Capitol insurrection, citing “deeply troubled” feelings.
