Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving United States Senate leader in history and current Republican minority leader, announced his resignation for November this morning, leaving the USC community with mixed feelings.
McConnell, a Republican representing Kentucky, turned 82 last week and announced this decision in the well of the Senate Wednesday morning.
“It was a wise decision” for McConnell to step down, said David Cerna, a sophomore studying piano performance and a member of the USC College Republicans.
“That’s only going to benefit the party,” Cerna said, adding that he thought McConnell “did a reasonably good job as senator.”
McConnell has represented the Bluegrass State in the Senate since 1985 and has been his party’s leader since 2007. Known for his sharp disagreements with former President Barack Obama and skirmishes with former President Donald Trump, he has raised controversies from within the Republican Party and with Democrats.
Daniel Schnur, a USC Annenberg professor of political communication and former Republican political operative, said losing McConnell would hurt more establishment Republicans.
“This is a very, very difficult blow for the more traditional wing of the Republican Party,” Schnur said.
Schnur explained that this recognition would upset politicians like Nikki Haley and her supporters, who wanted the Republican party to return to its goals from before Trump came on the scene. But he said it will please strong Trump and MAGA supporters who do not see McConnell as conservative enough.
“McConnell represents a brand of the Republican Party that either no longer exists, or at the very least, is in hibernation until Trump finishes his time in public office,” Schnur said.
Schnur also noted that McConnell worked closely with President Joe Biden over the years and most recently worked with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on funding for Ukraine.
Just two weeks ago, McConnell strongly defended a foreign aid package for Ukraine and supported a bipartisan border security deal that was under heavy criticism from other right-wing politicians.
“We have a lot of Democrats who think he’s far too conservative, and a lot of conservatives who don’t think he’s conservative enough,” Schnur said.
McConnell raised controversy within the Democratic party because of his pro-life abortion policy and his refusal to hold confirmation hearings for Merrick Garland, an Obama nomination for the Supreme Court and the current attorney general. But Schnur said McConnell’s anti-abortion rights work was a fair representation of his constituency.
Cerna said he feels similarly about McConnell’s abortion policy, saying, “he was reflecting what his constituency is voting for.”
Bob Shrum, the director of the USC Center for the Political Future and a former consultant in the Democratic Party, had a different response to McConnell’s tenure.
“Mitch McConnell, along with Donald Trump, is the author of the death of reproductive rights,” Shrum said.
By refusing to hold hearings on Garland but confirming Justice Amy Coney Barrett under similar circumstances, McConnell could be described as an architect of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority and its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
California Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff said Wednesday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter, that McConnell will not be missed.
“Mitch McConnell stacked the Court, undermined our democracy and enabled Donald Trump. And yet – in his absence – the @SenateGOP will invariably select someone more extreme,” Schiff said.
Shrum explained that McConnell “gave us the Trump Supreme Court” and refused to vote for Trump’s second impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Moving forward, the USC community has different ideas of what the future of Senate Republicans should look like.
Cerna said he would like to see someone like former Florida governor Sen. Rick Scott as the new leader. Schnur said he expects to see one of McConnell’s top three deputies—South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso or Texas Sen. John Cornyn take the helm.
“You’re going to see a very wide range of opinions on Mitch McConnell,” said Schnur.