AIt's time for everything, said Mitch McConnell when he stepped up to the microphone in the Senate on Wednesday and announced his resignation from the Republican caucus leadership after almost two decades. One of the most underestimated qualities in life is knowing when it is time for a new phase of life. “That’s why I stand before you today to say that this will be my last term in office,” McConnell continued. The task was the honor of his life and the highest privilege. But it is “time for the next generation of leaders”.
An era is coming to an end with the surprise announcement by the senator from Kentucky. McConnell, who has just turned 82, was elected to the Senate 40 years ago and has been in the party leadership since 2007. He will now serve in his current position as Republican minority leader until the November election and retain his Senate seat until the end of his term in January 2027.
Since last year, doubts about McConnell's health have been raised again and again. Twice in July and August he froze in press conferences, seemingly unable to speak, and was led away by his staff. However, his team said at the time that the minority leader was just dehydrated. McConnell previously fell during a private dinner in Washington in March and suffered a concussion.
Time of change within the Republicans
In his speech on Wednesday, McConnell said he was leaving at a moment “when I am sure I have helped preserve the ideals in which I believe so deeply.” But his resignation comes at a time of ideological change within his party. This is particularly evident in the dispute over further aid to Ukraine. McConnell is part of the part of the party establishment that believes support for Ukraine is essential.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, one of the party's Trumpists, refused to vote on a corresponding bill passed in the Senate in mid-February because it was not linked to migration policy. In his final months in office, McConnell is likely to be even more anxious to exert as much pressure as possible for further aid to Ukraine. He said on Wednesday that he was “aware of the politics within my party.” He still has enough energy “to thoroughly disappoint my critics” and will do so “with great enthusiasm.”
Who's coming after McConnell?
The senators known in Congress as the “three Johns” are considered potential successors to McConnell: John Thune from South Dakota, John Cornyn from Texas and John Barrasso from Wyoming. None of the three initially wanted to comment on a possible candidacy on Wednesday. There are “big shoes to fill,” said Thune when asked by journalists. It is traditionally the responsibility of the minority or majority leader of one party in Congress to negotiate compromises on legislative initiatives with the other party. McConnell's successor will be chosen by the Republican faction in the Senate after the November election.
McConnell was instrumental in ushering in the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. In the spring of 2016, citing the imminent presidential election and the population's right to have a say, he blocked the appointment of Barack Obama's left-liberal candidate, Merrick Garland, as chief justice. During Trump's term, he helped get his Supreme Court nominee confirmed in the Senate.
McConnell fell out with Trump after the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but never finally broke with the right wing of the party. Just this week, American media reported that McConnell was considering publicly supporting Trump as a presidential candidate after his overwhelming victories in the previous primaries.
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