Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has officially retired from Senate leadership. After serving in the upper chamber since 1984 and being in leadership since 2007, his long and storied career is winding to a close.

As a Machiavellian orchestrator in politics, McConnell has made friends and enemies on both sides of the aisle. “Nobody understands the Senate better than him,” Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) reflected. “They called [Lyndon B. Johnson] the master of the Senate. But LBJ had nothing on Mitch McConnell.”

How was that exemplified? Well, for Republicans, McConnell will always be remembered for his very effective maneuvering in getting hundreds of important judicial nominees appointed, including Supreme Court justices. In fact, holding the line against Barack Obama’s SCOTUS nominee, Merrick Garland, had a profound, game-changing effect on the 2016 presidential election. As our Nate Jackson recounted back in October 2020:

In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid nuked the filibuster for judicial nominees, though Democrats retained it for the Supreme Court. “You’ll regret this,” then Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned, “and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.” That “sooner than you think” came in 2017, when Democrats chose to filibuster Neil Gorsuch because they were bitter that Republicans had refused to even hold hearings for Merrick Garland the previous year. Sure enough, Majority Leader McConnell gave Democrats a dose of their own medicine, eliminating the filibuster even for SCOTUS nominees.

By using the same strategies that the Democrats employed when they were in power, McConnell was eventually able to get Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to the Supreme Court. It was his willingness to utilize the GOP’s Senate majority that eventually led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

While his efforts in this respect are rightfully lauded, he has also earned plenty of criticism. In recent years, he hasn’t stood firmly against spending boondoggles. McConnell also decided to “save” Lisa Murkowski — who is widely considered a RINO and votes with President Joe Biden 67% of the time — by giving her campaign money and helping defeat a Republican who beat her in a primary. Similarly, McConnell has pulled funds from campaigns like Blake Masters in Arizona and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, among other populists he has undermined over the years. In fact, many grassroots Republican voters view McConnell as the RINO and traitor. Everyone loves to hate McConnell.

What comes next for the old Kentucky senator? Well, he plans to finish out his term in 2027 as a regular senator, and John Thune (R-SD) is going to take over as Senate majority leader. Thune was one of two names that McConnell recommended for the position.

For his part, Thune is planning to hit the ground running. He has stated the need for senators to have a longer work week in order to help bring about much-needed legislation and other orders of business. “Friday votes will be the norm, and we’re not going to be having much in the way of recess in the first 100 days,” Thune declared in a floor speech. “That’s because we have a lot of work to do, and we’re not going to get it done on the kind of abbreviated schedule that we’ve had in 2024.”

For better and worse, McConnell is a tough act to follow, and time will tell how Thune measures up.

It’s the end of an era for the Republican Party. Whether you’re sad to see McConnell step down or happy that his time is coming to a close, his impact on the political scene will be remembered for a long time.