After stepping down from his position as Senate leader, McConnell is now free to choose his own battles. He intends to exert his influence in ways that may cause conflicts with President-elect Trump.
After stepping down from his position as Senate leader, McConnell is now free to choose his own battles and use his influence in ways that may clash with President-elect Trump.
Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky and the Senate’s longest-serving leader, will be resigning from his position in January. Photo credit goes to Kent Nishimura for The New York Times.
Backed by
Written by Catie Edmondson
Providing updates from the seat
During President Donald J. Trump’s previous term in the White House, Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky who was the majority leader at the time, played a significant role in supporting him and advancing his policies.
After serving as Senate leader for a long time, Mr. McConnell will be stepping down from that role in January. It seems that this time he is planning to shift his focus towards issues that may lead to disagreements with Mr. Trump regarding policies and personnel as Trump begins his second term.
Lately, Mr. McConnell, who is 82 years old, has been expressing to his colleagues that stepping down from his leadership position has made him feel free. This was especially evident during a late-night voting session in the Senate last week.
He has expressed doubt about some of the president-elect’s controversial choices for his administration, choosing not to comment on their selections. He also stated that it was the right decision for former Representative Matt Gaetz to withdraw from consideration as attorney general. Mr. McConnell has indicated that as he works to solidify his legacy in the Senate, he will focus on two issues that he strongly disagrees with Mr. Trump on.
Senator McConnell, whose term ends in 2027, has not confirmed if he will run for another term. He has expressed his intention to prioritize his interventionist foreign policy over the next two years, despite President-elect’s "America First" approach. Additionally, he aims to protect the Senate’s autonomy as President Trump plans to exert influence over the chamber with his upcoming governing trifecta in January.
We are currently experiencing difficulties in accessing the content of the article.
Kindly activate JavaScript in the settings of your web browser.
We appreciate your understanding as we confirm your access. If you are currently using Reader mode, please log out and sign in to your Times account, or consider subscribing for full access to The Times.
We appreciate your understanding as we confirm access.
Have you already signed up for a subscription? Please log in
Interested in having access to all content from The Times? Consider subscribing
Prom
Index of the website
Navigation for finding information on