Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Wednesday that his current term as Senate GOP leader will be his last in that role, noting that he plans to remain in the post until Senate Republicans tap someone else in November and that figure takes the “helm” in January.
The lawmaker, who has served as either Senate minority or Senate majority leader since 2007, has been serving as a U.S. senator since 1985. But while he plans to relinquish the reins of leadership, he indicated that he will continue to serve as a lawmaker. His term ends in early 2027.
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri welcomed the news of McConnell’s plan to leave the leadership post but took issue with the timeline, tweeting, “I called on McConnell to step down over a year ago. This is good news. But why wait so long – we need new leadership now.”
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for the leadership role in 2022, said in a statement, “I have been very clear and have long believed that we need new leadership in the Senate that represents our voters and the issues we were sent here to fight for. As everyone knows, I challenged Leader McConnell in 2022. This is an opportunity to refocus our efforts on solving the significant challenges facing our country and actually reflect the aspirations of voters.”
“We’ve now 86’d: McCarthy McDaniel McConnell,” GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida tweeted. “Better days are ahead for the Republican Party.”
Former President Donald Trump endorsed McConnell for re-election in 2020, but in a 2021 statement indicated that he regretted doing so. “My only regret is that McConnell ‘begged’ for my strong support and endorsement before the great people of Kentucky in the 2020 election, and I gave it to him,” Trump said in the statement, calling McConnell “a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack,” who “will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country.”
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