Mitch McConnell, the US Senate’s longest-serving Republican leader, has announced he is stepping down from his leadership position in November.
The Kentucky politician said it was “time to move on” in his address to the Senate on Wednesday.
Mr McConnell has proven key to passing conservative priorities and electing Republicans to Capitol Hill.
But he has fallen out with Donald Trump in recent years and feuded with him over his election falsehoods.
Mr McConnell, 82, has suffered several health scares in the past year though his staff say that has nothing to do with his decision. He twice froze when speaking during press conferences in the past year, and he suffered a concussion after falling at a hotel in Washington.
The Kentucky senator said in his speech that he would serve out his term, which ends in January 2027, but he would work “from a different seat in the chamber”.
“I still have enough gas in my tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics,” he said.
Over his long career, Mitch McConnell proved himself to be one of the most effective Republican leaders in the Senate in part because he could alternate between bare-knuckle political hardball and a willingness to compromise when he saw fit.