Rumors are spreading like wildfire that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s retirement may be imminent. He won reelection in November, but it may be unrealistic to 79-year-old can stay in the Senate another six years. Now, the Kentucky state legislature is moving to protect the Republican Party by forcing Democrat Governor Andy Beshear to choose from three GOP options.
According to Newsmax:
For days, news in Kentucky has been dominated by reports that the Republican-dominated state legislature is poised to change the means for filling a vacancy in the U.S. Senate.
This has led fueled speculation from the State Capitol in Frankfort to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., about the person who badly wants this legislation enacted and whom it most affects: Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican leader and handily re-elected last fall to a 7th term.
If enacted, the proposed legislation will remove Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s power to appoint whomever he chooses to a vacant Senate seat.
Instead, he and future governors would be required to choose the new lawmaker from a list of three from the executive committee of the party of the outgoing senator.
At 79, amid on-and-off speculation about McConnell’s health, the man called “Mr. Leader” by Republican colleagues and staffers and simply “The Senator” by Bluegrass State Republicans shows no signs of stepping down. Just this weekend, McConnell sent clear signals to Democrats he would thwart any attempt by them to scuttle the filibuster in the Senate.
But the speculation continues. McConnell supports the proposed change in rules for filling a Senate vacancy (officially Senate Bill 228). Morever, state Republicans have gone as far as to offer a list of three Republicans from which McConnell’s successor will be chosen.
McConnell has been uncharacteristically fearless in his handling of the post-election narrative surrounding President Trump. He has voiced direct opposition to the President’s alleged calls for insurrection, calls that prompted a second impeachment. But McConnell has fallen just shy of siding with Democrats wholeheartedly against the president who made McConnell’s time as Senate Majority Leader so eventful.
As soon as the Kentucky legislature changes the rules to keep party control over Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat, we can expect him to retire. It should have come years ago, but perhaps the nightmare will be ending soon.
