Sen. Mitch McConnell plans to retire and will not seek reelection next year, he announced on Thursday.
“Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime,” he said on the Senate floor. “I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
Following a 30 second round of applause requested by Sen. Thom Tillis, McConnell was embraced by Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. As the three of them stood together, McConnell appeared to joke, “These are the new moderates.”
The AP first reported the news, which a person familiar with the decision confirmed to NOTUS.
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The Kentucky Republican has been one of the most influential senators in modern political history, shaping his party’s legislative and political agenda for decades and through radically different eras.
McConnell, who turns 83 on Thursday, has experienced several health incidents over the last few years, from freezing up during press conferences to multiple falls. His office consistently defended his ability to fulfill his duties.
“I figured my birthday would be as good a day as any to share with my colleagues a decision I made last year,” McConnell said on the floor.
After nearly two decades leading his party in the Senate, McConnell has recently embraced his role in the rank and file. He’s spent less time trying to wrangle votes, and has been one of the few Senate Republicans to regularly vote against President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.
“I just think Mitch is not really a factor one way or another,” one Republican senator recently told NOTUS.
McConnell defended the Senate in his remarks on the floor, particularly against anyone who has said its norms and abilities have degraded in recent years.
“Regardless of the political storms that may wash over this chamber, during the time that I have remaining, I assure our colleagues that I will depart with great hope for the endurance of the Senate as an institution,” he said. “There are any number of reasons for pessimism, but the strength of the Senate is not one of them.”
And he said he would keep going until his retirement.
“To the disappointment of my critics, I’m still here, on the job,” he said at the close of his speech.
During McConnell’s speech, Rep. Andy Barr, who was rumored to be eyeing the seat, said he believed the Kentucky voters “deserve a Senator who will fight for President Trump and the American First Agenda.”
“I’m encouraged by the outpouring of support and my family and I will be making a decision about our future soon,” Barr posted.
Former Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron, a close McConnell ally who ran for governor in 2023, also immediately posted his intentions to run for the Senate seat.
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Daniella Diaz is a NOTUS reporter. Ursula Perano contributed reporting.
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