WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the longest-serving Senate leader in history, announced on his 83rd birthday Thursday that he won’t seek re-election next year, bringing an end to his four-decade career in the chamber.
McConnell, elected in 1984, climbed his way up to the Senate Republican leader position in 2007 and remained there until early 2025, serving during four administrations in the majority and the minority.
He will leave behind a complex legacy and a party that has transformed away from traditional conservatism into one led by President Donald Trump, with whom the Kentucky Republican has long had a frosty relationship.
“Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of my lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
McConnell supported Trump’s presidential bids in 2016 and 2020. He made a crucial decision in early 2021 to vote to acquit Trump on impeachment charges of inciting an insurrection, even as he blasted Trump as “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” calling his actions a “disgraceful dereliction of duty.” Despite his misgivings, he went on to endorse Trump for president again in 2024 after Trump clinched the Republican nomination for a third successive time.
McConnell’s most significant actions came during his stint as Senate majority leader from 2015 to 2021.
In 2016, he infuriated Democrats by making the extraordinary decision to deny a hearing or a vote to President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee for the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The move, celebrated by many conservatives, helped Trump win the presidential election by using the court to rally otherwise skeptical Republican voters, and paved the way for him to appoint Justice Neil Gorsuch.
McConnell oversaw Trump’s three Supreme Court nominations during his first term, part of a sweeping set of 234 judges confirmed over those four years — most of them young conservatives who will serve for generations — which McConnell has regarded as his proudest achievement.
McConnell also shepherded Trump’s 2017 tax cut law through the Senate, which became Trump’s signature legislative achievement during his first term.
He has also served on the Appropriations Committee for years and unapologetically used his positions to steer federal funds to his home state, Kentucky. He said Thursday that he's proud to have used its power to help Kentucky "punch above its weight."
In a statement, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who replaced McConnell as the GOP's leader in the chamber, praised his predecessor's legacy of "remarkable service to the Senate."
"Over decades of tireless work, his mastery of Senate procedure, commitment to the institution, and dedication to the rule of law have shaped the course of American governance for generations to come," Thune said. "His leadership has strengthened the Senate’s role as a deliberative body and delivered historic achievements, from advancing the judiciary to championing Kentucky’s interests."
In the Obama era, McConnell developed a reputation as “Dr. No," marshaling his caucus to unified opposition to much of the president’s agenda, most notably the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. In 2017, he sought to undo the law when, in a now-iconic image, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., shocked him with an unexpected thumbs-down on the Senate floor to sink one of McConnell’s top priorities.
McConnell's oppositional posture softened somewhat under President Joe Biden, when the Kentucky Republican blessed several bipartisan deals — to expand infrastructure spending and invest in semiconductors through the CHIPS and Science Act, among other measures that became law.
In recent years, McConnell has dedicated his focus to foreign policy and seeking to protect robust American involvement to shape global affairs and preserve the post-World War II order. It’s an area where he has broken with Trump, whose “America First” vision calls for less involvement in global affairs. The two have most notably disagreed on U.S. assistance to Ukraine as it seeks to fend off an invasion from Russia.
McConnell will also be remembered as a fierce defender of the 60-vote filibuster threshold to pass most legislation in the Senate, a tool that was once rarely used but became normalized during his first tenure as minority leader. He resisted Trump’s first-term demands to eliminate the 60-vote threshold.
McConnell has battled some health issues in recent years, including several freeze-ups on camera and a recent fall that has caused him to work from a wheelchair in the Senate. Between his age and alienation from Trump’s MAGA movement that has taken over the GOP, McConnell’s retirement has long been anticipated.
McConnell has been one of the few Republicans willing to break with Trump since he was inaugurated last month, voting against three of his high-profile Cabinet-level nominees. In addition to clashes over Ukraine, McConnell has also criticized Trump's plans to impose sweeping tariffs. His current term expires in January 2027.
“So lest any of our colleagues still doubt my intentions for the remainder of my term, I have some unfinished business to attend to,” McConnell said. “Regardless of the political storms that may wash over this chamber, during the time I have remaining, I assure our colleagues I will depart with great hope for the endurance of the Senate as an institution.”
