19 views 4 mins 0 comments

McConnell’s Post-Leadership Plans: Picking Fights with Trump

In Citizen
November 28, 2024

After stepping down from his position as the longest-serving Senate leader, McConnell is now free to choose his own battles and is looking to wield his influence in ways that may lead to conflicts with President-elect Donald J. Trump in the upcoming Congress.

After stepping down as the Senate leader, McConnell is now free to choose which battles he wants to engage in. He intends to use his power in ways that may lead to conflicts with President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky and the Senate leader for the longest period of time, will resign from his position in January. Photo by Kent Nishimura for The New York Times.

Backed by

Written by Catie Edmondson.

Reporting live from the government building

During President Donald J. Trump’s previous term in the White House, Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky who served as the majority leader at the time, was instrumental in supporting and advancing his policies.

After serving as Senate leader for a long time, Mr. McConnell will be stepping down from his position in January. This time, he seems to be preparing to take a different approach by concentrating on topics that may lead to disagreements with Mr. Trump regarding policies and personnel at the beginning of his second term.

Recently, 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 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 administration, choosing not to comment on their selections. He also mentioned that it was the right decision for former Representative Matt Gaetz to withdraw from consideration as attorney general. Mr. McConnell has indicated that he will focus on two issues during his remaining time in the Senate to solidify his legacy, even though he strongly disagrees with Mr. Trump on these subjects.

Mitch McConnell, whose term as Senate Majority Leader ends in 2027 and has not confirmed if he will run again, has stated his intention to prioritize his interventionist foreign policy approach in the next two years. This stance differs from the president-elect’s "America First" strategy. McConnell also aims to protect the Senate’s autonomy amidst President Trump’s plans to exert influence over the chamber with his upcoming control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives.

We are experiencing difficulties in accessing the content of the article.

Kindly activate JavaScript in your browser’s settings.

We appreciate your patience as we confirm your access. If you are using Reader mode, please log out and sign in to your Times account, or consider subscribing to access all of The Times content.

We appreciate your understanding as we confirm access.

Have you already signed up for a subscription? Please sign in

Interested in having access to all of The Times? Simply subscribe to

Prom

Index of the Website

Navigation for Site Information