Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday he will not seek re-election for his seat in 2026, ending his career as one of the body's most influential power broker.

Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, who acquired the moniker "Grim Reaper" as the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, said on Thursday he will not seek reelection in 2026, ending a decades-long career that helped steer American politics decisively to the right.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader who helped Republicans remake the U.S. Supreme Court and also influenced how political campaigns are financed, announced Thursday that he would not seek an eighth term in office.