After stepping down as the Senate leader, McConnell is looking forward to choosing his battles independently. He intends to utilize his influence in ways that may lead to disagreements with President-elect Donald J. Trump.
After stepping down as Senate leader, McConnell is now free to choose his own battles and intends to use his power in ways that may clash with President-elect Trump.
Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky and the Senate leader for the longest time, will be resigning from his position in January.
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Written by Catie Edmondson
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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 key role in supporting him and advancing his policies.
After serving as the Senate leader for a long time, Mr. McConnell will be stepping down from his position in January. It seems that this time he is planning to shift his focus towards topics that may cause disagreements with Mr. Trump regarding policies and personnel as he begins his second term.
Recently, Mr. McConnell, who is 82 years old, has expressed to his colleagues that stepping down from his leadership position has made him feel free and liberated. This was evident during a late-night voting session on the Senate floor last week.
He has shown doubt about some of the president-elect’s controversial choices for his team, staying silent on their appointments and stating last week that the decision to remove former Representative Matt Gaetz from consideration as attorney general was the right one. Mr. McConnell has indicated that as he works to establish his legacy during his time left in the Senate, he intends to focus on two topics that he strongly disagrees with Mr. Trump on.
Mr. McConnell, who will serve until 2027 and has not confirmed if he will run for another term, intends to prioritize his interventionist foreign policy in the next two years. This goes against the president-elect’s "America First" stance. Additionally, he aims to protect the Senate’s autonomy while facing pressure from Mr. Trump, who will have control over the government in January and has shown intentions to exert influence over the Senate.
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