Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will stand down as Senate Republican Leader in November, leaving his post as the longest-serving Senate leader in history.
AP reports McConnell, who turned 82 last week, was set to announce his decision Wednesday in the well of the Senate.
“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 AP. “So I stand before you today … to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”
McConnell said he plans to serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.”
Aides, quoted by AP, 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.
As Breitbart News reported, McConnell went silent during his opening remarks at a regular press conference, according to video of the alarming moment.
His colleagues were forced to pull him aside from a podium at the Capitol without finishing his remarks.
McConnell briefly walked to his office and then returned to the press conference, saying he was “fine.”
None of those incidents were mentioned in the departure announcement.
“As I have been thinking about when I would deliver some news to the Senate, I always imagined a moment when I had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work,” McConnell said in his prepared remarks issued Wednesday.
“A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today.”
More to come…