Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky announced on Thursday he will not be seeking reelection next year at the end of his term, bringing to a close a four-decade career in the Senate.

“Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of my lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time,” McConnell said in a floor speech. “My current term in the Senate will be my last.”

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in the upper chamber’s history, announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2026.

In a parting floor speech, McConnell (R-Ky.) recounted how his journey from interning for former Sen. John Sherman Cooper (R-Ky.) to leading the Republican conference for 18 years fulfilled “a childhood dream.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he is retiring at the end of his current term and will not seek reelection in 2026. It marks the end of a 40-year tenure in the Senate, during which he oversaw a transformation of the nation’s federal courts. 

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the longest-serving Senate leader in history, announced on his 83rd birthday Thursday that he won’t seek re-election next year, bringing an end to his four-decade career in the chamber.

McConnell, elected in 1984, climbed his way up to the Senate Republican leader position in 2007 and remained there until early 2025, serving during four administrations in the majority and the minority.

Donald Trump got his 78th birthday present a day early — a handshake from his longtime bitter critic, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, encapsulating the Republican Party’s complete submission to its presumptive presidential nominee.

The twice-impeached 45th president and newly convicted criminal was back on Capitol Hill Thursday for the first time since his supporters beat up police officers and smashed their way through the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and former President Trump made efforts on Thursday to bury the hatchet and end their long-running feud as GOP confidence grows that the party could win both chambers of Congress and the White House this fall.

It was uncertain initially whether McConnell would even attend the lunch meeting hosted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) with Trump, given more than three years of acrimony between the two leaders stemming from Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.

Former President Donald Trump is back in Washington for the first time since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee as well as a convicted felon, holding a pair of significant, closed-door meetings with key congressional allies, vice presidential hopefuls and even a few former outspoken opponents – all of whom are expected to line up behind him this fall.

Former President Trump is headed to Capitol Hill to strike a unified tone ahead of November with congressional Republicans — including a number of senators he doesn’t always see eye to eye with.

At the top of the list is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who Trump has repeatedly feuded with since leaving office. The two are set to be in the same room together for the first time since 2020 and their infamous fallout, which has been semirepaired in recent months as the GOP leader officially endorsed Trump’s campaign.

Former President Donald Trump will meet with the top Republican leader for the first time since he left office in a behind closed-door meeting. 

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) confirmed on Wednesday that he will attend a meeting with Trump and other House Republicans during a conference, hosted at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). 

“I'll be at the meeting tomorrow,” McConnell told reporters, despite his long-running feud with Trump.