Global InformationMitch McConnell information
Mitch McConnell | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2016 | |
| Senate Minority Leader | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2021 | |
| Whip | John Thune |
| Preceded by | Chuck Schumer |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2015 | |
| Whip | Trent Lott Jon Kyl John Cornyn |
| Preceded by | Harry Reid |
| Succeeded by | Harry Reid |
| Senate Majority Leader | |
| In office January 3, 2015 – January 20, 2021 | |
| Whip | John Cornyn John Thune |
| Preceded by | Harry Reid |
| Succeeded by | Chuck Schumer |
| Leader of the Senate Republican Conference | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Frist |
| Senate Majority Whip | |
| In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Leader | Bill Frist |
| Preceded by | Harry Reid |
| Succeeded by | Dick Durbin |
| Chair of the Senate Rules Committee | |
| In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Dodd |
| Succeeded by | Chris Dodd |
| In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | John Warner |
| Succeeded by | Chris Dodd |
| United States Senator from Kentucky | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1985 Serving with Rand Paul | |
| Preceded by | Walter Dee Huddleston |
| Judge/Executive of Jefferson County | |
| In office December 1, 1977 – December 21, 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Todd Hollenbach III |
| Succeeded by | Bremer Ehrler |
| United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs | |
| Acting February 1, 1975 – June 27, 1975 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Vincent Rakestraw |
| Succeeded by | Michael Uhlmann |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Addison Mitchell McConnell III February 20, 1942 Sheffield, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | Sherrill Redmon
(m. 1968; div. 1980)Elaine Chao (m. 1993) |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Education |
|
| Signature |  |
| Website | Senate website |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | July 9, 1967 – August 15, 1967 (37 days) (medical separation) |
| Unit | United States Army Reserve |
Addison Mitchell McConnell III[1] (/məˈkɒnəl/ mə-KON-əl; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as Senate Minority Leader since 2021 and the senior United States senator from Kentucky since 1985, the longest serving senator in his state's history. He previously served as minority leader from 2007 to 2015, majority leader from 2015 to 2021 and was majority whip from 2003 to 2007. McConnell has been the leader of the Senate Republican Conference since 2007, making him the longest serving Senate party leader in U.S. history.
McConnell holds conservative political positions, although he was known as a pragmatist and a moderate Republican early in his political career. He led opposition to stricter campaign finance laws, culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. FEC that partially overturned the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold) in 2010. McConnell worked to withhold Republican support for major presidential initiatives during the Obama administration, having made frequent use of the filibuster, and blocked many of President Obama's judicial nominees, including Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.
During the Trump administration, the Senate Republican majority under his leadership passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act in 2018, the First Step Act, the Great American Outdoors Act, and confirmed a record number of federal appeals court judges during a president's first two years. McConnell invoked the nuclear option to eliminate the 60-vote requirement to end a filibuster for Supreme Court nominations, after his predecessor Harry Reid had previously eliminated the filibuster for all other presidential nominations; Trump subsequently won confirmation battles on Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. While supportive of most of Trump's domestic and foreign policies, McConnell was critical of Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and despite voting to acquit on Trump's second impeachment trial on reasons related to the constitutionality of impeaching a former president, deemed him "practically and morally responsible" for the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[2]
- ^ McConnell, Mitch (2016). "Chapter One: A fighting spirit". The Long Game: a Memoir. New York, NY: Sentinel. p. 9. ISBN 9780399564123. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
...my mother graduated from Wadley High School in 1937. Soon after graduation, she found her way out of rural Alabama and into Birmingham...It was here that she met A.M. McConnell II.
- ^ "McConnell says Trump was "practically and morally responsible" for riot after voting not guilty". cbsnews.com. February 14, 2021. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.