Outgoing Senate Leader McConnell to Focus on Defense Spending in New Role

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is preparing to relinquish his role as the longest-serving Senate leader to focus on his priority of defense spending. As a regular Senate member next year, McConnell is set to serve as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and chairman of the Senate Rules Committee – roles that will see him actively involved in U.S. foreign policy and national security interests.

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, announced his plans on Thursday, stirring reactions from political analysts like Stephen Voss, an associate professor at the University of Kentucky. Voss suggests that McConnell’s focus on foreign policy and U.S. leadership role in global affairs is a response to growing isolationism within the GOP.

“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War,” McConnell quoted in a recent statement, asserting the necessity for a new Senate Republican majority to secure the U.S.’s future leadership role. Experts like Casey Burgat, legislative affairs program director at The George Washington University, suggest McConnell’s pursuit of these posts implies a desire to maintain influence on U.S. foreign policy.

Sen. John Thune, R-SD, has been elected to succeed McConnell as Senate leader, despite efforts from Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and some President-Elect Donald Trump supporters to unseat McConnell from leadership in 2022.