McConnell Will Step Down As The Senate Republican Leader In November

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November.

McConnell, who turned 82 last week, was set to announce his decision Wednesday in the well of the Senate, a place where he looked in awe from its back benches in 1985 when he arrived and where he grew increasingly comfortable in the front row seat afforded the party leaders.

“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “So I stand before you today ... to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”

His decision punctuates a powerful ideological transition underway in the Republican Party, from Ronald Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and strong international alliances, to the fiery, often isolationist populism of former President Donald Trump.

McConnell said he plans to serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.” Aides said McConnell’s announcement about the leadership post was unrelated to his health. The Kentucky senator had a concussion from a fall last year and two public episodes where his face briefly froze while he was speaking.

Here is another boilerplate of mine that highlights McConnell's leadership in the Senate.

From August 7, 2022: Trump says McConnell ‘got played like a fiddle’ on Democrats spending bill
Excerpt:
Former President Trump laid into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday after Senate Democrats passed their long-awaited health care, tax and climate package.
“Mitch McConnell got played like a fiddle with the vote today by the Senate Democrats,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“First he gave them the fake Infrastructure Bill, then Guns, never used the Debt Ceiling for negotiating purposes (gave it away for NOTHING!), and now this,” Trump said. “Mitch doesn’t have a clue – he is sooo bad for the Republican Party!”
More...
Some ancient history:
I'll have to add Joe Manchin to the list of suckers from Democrat deals.
Schumer suckered McConnell into voting for the CHIPS act, and then suckered Manchin into voting for the Inflation Reduction Act, essentially rolling two birds with one stone.
Schumer reneging on his promise to McConnell to not use reconciliation for the Inflation Reduction act in exchange for passing the CHIPS bill is just the latest in a long history of Democrats breaking deals with Republicans after getting what they want.
‘We Got Our Ass Kicked’: John Kennedy Laments Senate Republican Loss to Democrats on CHIPS, Reconciliation (July 29, 2022):
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said on Thursday that Senate Republicans got tricked into passing a semiconductor bill after believing that a Democrat reconciliation bill was dead.
While Republicans were split on the merits of the legislation, most Republicans, including House Republican leadership, did not want to pass the CHIPS legislation if Democrats were to pursue a reconciliation bill to pass climate change, Obamacare, and other leftist priorities.
The same day that the Senate passed the CHIPS bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced a deal on the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that would aim to reduce the deficit, raise taxes, and boost climate change and Obamacare spending.
Announcing the deal immediately after Senate Republicans backed the CHIPS bill left many GOP lawmakers with egg on their faces.
"We got our ass kicked. It’s just that simple. Looks to me like we got rinky-doo’d. That’s a Louisiana word for 'screwed.' And we got our ass kicked. That’s the way my people back home see it," Kennedy said...
McConnell also lost to Schumer on a debt ceiling fight in 2021, which led to a debt to temporarily create a carveout for the legislative filibuster. One former senior GOP aide said the deal was to save McConnell’s "ego."
It is absolute incompetence of McConnell to keep letting them get away with it.
Here's an oldie post of mine from 2009 on Harry Reid's history of reneging on promises:
...McConnell got Reid to agree to hold a high-profile debt-limit vote next month -- just before the president's State of the Union address...
Specter suggests Reid reneged on word.
Newly-turned Democrat Arlen Specter today hinted that that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reneged on his word to allow Specter to keep his seniority on committees on which he sits. "Sen. Reid assured me that I would keep my committee assignments, and that I would have the same seniority as if I had been elected as a Democrat in 1980," Specter said in a written statement today.
Reid Bows to Far Left as Rs Rank Judges Issue #1.
And they undoubtedly have the Rasmussen survey results in the back of their minds as they consider their reaction to Majority Leader Reid's broken promise to confirm three appeals court nominees before the Memorial Day recess, as well as Reid's sure-to-be-broken earlier promises to meet the historical average (17) for appeals court confirmations in a president's final two years. With just a couple of months left in the confirmation window, Reid is less than halfway to meeting that average.
[snip]
"A good GOP Senate source reports today that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the entire Republican Conference -- about the judge-fight issue. McConnell is said to have been very insistent that he would not let Majority Leader Reid's broken promise go unpunished. He would not tell the Conference exactly what action he was planning, but he did say it would be very firm, and that all concerned would know it when we see it." --Quin Hillyer (5/21/08)
[snip]
While Sen. Lott overcame numerous obstacles to get Paez and Berzon confirmed, Sen. Reid has looked for excuses to renege on his pledge.
[snip]
GOP senators are understandably angry that Sen. Reid broke the golden rule of senatorial honor by reneging on his commitment.
[snip]
Democrats Target Coburn's Holds
To ease passage of the public lands measure, Reid promised Coburn the chance to offer a limited number of amendments.
But after the majority leader objected to a Coburn proposal that would have eased restrictions on firearms in national parks, the package stalled for months, prompting Coburn to charge that Reid reneged on their agreement.
Coburn eventually got to offer four amendments -- all of which were defeated but not the guns measure.
Reid: No Vote On Lifting Drug Import Ban Before Health-Care Bill
Republicans accused U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., of reneging Tuesday on a pledge to allow a Senate vote on a measure lifting an import ban on pharmaceutical drugs before lawmakers take up health-care legislation.
The development, supported by major drug makers, comes as the Senate is moving to craft the politically delicate compromises needed for the broader health care overhaul bill.
In a letter to a bipartisan group of senators that have been pushing for the import ban to be scrapped, Reid said there wouldn't be time in the busy legislative calendar for full consideration of legislation lifting the long-standing prohibition now.
"He did commit to us and obviously that commitment is not going to be kept," Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., said Tuesday evening.
Recently...
AFL-CIO Boss to Harry Reid: Go Nuclear
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) accused Republicans of trying to "disable the administration by blocking the appointments, though he stopped short of saying campaign donations are directly attributable" for GOP opposition. Merkley received $1.2 million from labor groups since 2010, including more than $275,000 for his 2014 campaign.
Merkley defended President Obama's recess appointments while the Senate was in session because "functionally we were out of session." He also accused McConnell of violating a pair of "gentleman's agreements" to confirm President Obama's nominees without "obstruction" from the minority.
Obama and Reid reneged on a labor truce of their own when the Democrats re-nominated Block and Griffin to the board, according to a top Republican aide.
Now we can add Chuck Schumer to the list of Democrats who can successfully roll Mitch McConnell.
McConnell needs to go. He's a Vichy Republican who collaborates with the Democrats to pass their agenda. He's like the Colonel in Bridge On The River Kwai who thinks he's demonstrating stoic pride in his beloved institution and fails to see how he's helping the enemy to win.

-PJ

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.