WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 28, 2024 (Gephardt Daily/UPI) — Senator Mitch McConnell (R, Kentucky) announced Wednesday he will step down as GOP leader effective November of this year, saying it’s time for the next generation of leaders to come forward.
McConnell, 82, plans to complete his current senate term, which ends in 2026. McConnell is the longest serving party leader in the U.S. Senate.
“Time rolls on,” McConnell said, emotion evident in his voice. “There’ll be a new custodian of this great institution next year. It won’t surprise you to know I intend to turn this job over to a Republican majority leader. I have full confidence in my competence to choose my replacement and lead our country forward.”
McConnell joked about his ongoing Senate term, saying, “I’m not going anywhere” and “There are many challenges we must make to deliver for the American people…I still have enough gas in the tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics. And I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm with which they’ve gotten accustomed.”
McConnell told his peers, “It’s been an honor to work with each of you. There’ll be plenty of time to express my gratitude in greater detail as I sprint towards the finish line, which is now in sight.”
McConnell is Kentucky’s longest-serving U.S. senator. He cited his age as a factor in the decision to step down from his leadership role. McConnell became the longest-serving Senate party leader in 2023.
Even though he led the effort to acquit former President Donald Trump in both impeachments, McConnell broke with the former president after the pro-Trump mob’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021.
Despite his belief that Trump was morally responsible for the insurrection, McConnell still refused to vote to convict him, which would have barred Trump from ever again becoming president.
McConnell used his leadership position in the U.S. Senate in 2016 to block then-President Barrack Obama‘s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
McConnell refused to hold a nomination hearing for Garland, who remained Obama’s nominee for 293 days. He moved quickly on nomination hearings for conservative justices nominated by Trump.
On Wednesday after McConnell’s announcement, President Joe Biden praised the working relationship he said he shared with McConnell.
“American Democracy is based on elected representatives coming together and bridging their different points of view to find common ground on behalf of the American people,” Biden said in a statement from the White House. “I’m proud that my friend Mitch McConnell and I have been able to do that for many years, working together in good faith even though we have many political disagreements.”
After his speech Wednesday, McConnell got a standing ovation from senators.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., shook McConnell’s hand after the speech, as did other senators of both political parties.
McConnell downplayed obvious health issues he was having in October 2023, including freezing up and being unable to speak while addressing reporters on Capitol Hill. Afterward, he said he had recovered and was getting back to work as normal.
Earlier in March he suffered a concussion after a fall at a hotel in Washington, D.C.
