BREAKING: Mitch McConnell To Step Down As Senate Republican Leader

On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that he would be stepping down as the Republican leader of the upper chamber in November. The 82-year-old has faced calls for his resignation from the position from multiple colleagues in recent months including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT). McConnell's announcement comes after the "bipartisan" border deal package failed to make it through Congress and following multiple freeze-up episodes while speaking with the press.

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

 The 82-year-old senator from Kentucky, who has been in office since 1985, is expected to serve the remainder of his term that ends in January 2027.

“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, per The AP. “A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today.”

"I still have enough gas in my tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics, and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm with which they've become accustomed," the Republican leader added.

This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.
 

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