McConnell announces post-leadership role chairing defense budget panel
By
David Sivak
November 21, 2024 7:07 pm
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Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced on Thursday that he will chair the Appropriations subcommittee that controls the defense budget next year as he prepares to step down from Senate leadership.
In January, McConnell will become a rank-and-file member after 18 years leading Republicans in the Senate, but his committee assignment guarantees he will maintain a prominent role in shaping U.S. foreign policy.
“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War. At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy,” McConnell said in a statement. “I intend to play an active role in this urgent mission.”
McConnell is more senior than Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, meaning he could have leap-frogged her to run the entire committee.
But McConnell was never expected to take on such a large role. McConnell and Collins are close Senate allies.
His perch on the Appropriations Committee could be a source of friction in the new Congress, when Republicans will assume a 53-seat Senate majority. He has a decidedly more hawkish stance on foreign policy than President-elect Donald Trump, who wants to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/3238370/mcconnell-chair-defense-budget-panel/
