Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) makes Senate history on Tuesday at noon, claiming the title of the Senate’s longest-serving leader.
The record was held by Sen. Mike Mansfield (D-MT), who was the Democrats‘ leader from 1961 to 1977. McConnell became a Senate leader in 2006. In commemoration of the man he is set to overcome, McConnell is scheduled to give a speech about the legacy of Mansfield on Tuesday. The speech will be a brief overview of the Montana senator’s career, before cataloging the many leadership styles of different senate leaders.
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“Then there’ve been Leaders who rose to the job through lower-key, behind-the-scenes styles; who preferred to focus on serving their colleagues rather than dominating them,” the speech reads.
McConnell’s office sent out a list of his accomplishments, showing how the Kentucky Republican views his legacy. Tax reform, preventing the close of Guantanamo Bay, protecting the Iraq surge, helping to craft the United States’s coronavirus pandemic response, protecting the filibuster, and supporting anti-junta forces in Burma feature primarily in his list of accomplishments.
Notably, his reaction to the Jan. 6 riot features prominently in his accomplishments as well, including information revealed through the Jan. 6 committee, which found that McConnell worked behind the scenes to attempt to get all Republicans to vote to certify the election. He also reiterated his previous quote that his vote to certify the election results was “the most important vote I have ever cast.”
McConnell has been bombarded by criticism from within and outside the Republican Party throughout his long tenure, particularly from the Trumpist wing of the Republican Party in recent years. He has earned the ire of former President Donald Trump since the latter left office, largely due to perceived disloyalty. Trump recently blamed Republican midterm losses on McConnell and has frequently called for the Kentucky Republican to be deposed.
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McConnell recently came to blows with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who challenged him for the senate leadership position in November. Some Republicans were also outraged over McConnell’s support of the recent omnibus spending bill.
