The Kentucky senator is stepping down after a consequential career. Whether Americans benefited from his triumphs, however, is another matter entirely.

The former Senate Republican leader had been widely expected to retire at the end of his term. He made it official on his 83rd birthday, after a recent run of opposing President Trump’s nominees.

Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, who acquired the moniker "Grim Reaper" as the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, said on Thursday he will not seek reelection in 2026, ending a decades-long career that helped steer American politics decisively to the right.

Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday he will not seek reelection next year. McConnell, who turned 83 today, was largely expected to end his Senate tenure at the conclusion of his term in January 2027 but made it official in a floor speech in which he reflected on his decades-long political career.