President Joe Biden responded on Wednesday to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) announcement detailing his plans to step down from his Senate leadership role in November.
McConnell, 82, has held the top leadership position for Senate Republicans for 16 years, making him the longest-serving party leader in Senate history — and Biden said that while he and McConnell had often disagreed and even “fought like hell,” he felt that they had reached a certain level of “trust” and could ultimately work together.
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President Biden says he’s “sorry to hear” Mitch McConnell is stepping down from Senate leadership:
“I trusted him, we had a great relationship, we fought like hell. But he never, never, never misrepresented anything. I’m sorry to hear he’s stepping down.” pic.twitter.com/U4a1RaQ94v
— The Recount (@therecount) February 28, 2024
“I trusted him, we had a great relationship, we fought like hell. But he never, never, never misrepresented anything. I’m sorry to hear he’s stepping down,” Biden said.
McConnell made the announcement Wednesday morning on the Senate floor, saying that while he would be stepping down as party leader, he still intended to finish out his full term representing the state of Kentucky in the Senate until January 2027.
“I turned 82 last week. The end of my contributions are closer than I prefer. Father Time remains undefeated,” McConnell said, in part. “I’m no longer the young man sitting in the back hoping colleagues remember my name. It’s time for the next generation of leadership. … Time rolls on. There will be a new custodian of this great institution. Next year, I intend to turn this job over to a Republican Majority Leader. I have full confidence in my conference to choose my replacement and lead our country forward.”
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Sen. McConnell: This will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I'll complete my job my colleagues have given me to do until we select a new leader in November…I'll finish my job the people of Kentucky hired me to do as well. pic.twitter.com/9ywtErIZ7M
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 28, 2024
Several prominent Republicans have already been floated as potential replacements for McConnell, come November — among them Sens. John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-WY), and John Cornyn (R-TX).
While none of the three have officially said they would run for a leadership position on McConnell’s exit, neither have any of them denied that they would do so in the coming months.