House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is praising Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after his announcement Wednesday that he's stepping down as the Senate's GOP leader in November, saying that he should be recognized for his years of service and work.
"Leader Mitch McConnell is to be recognized for his patriotism and decades of service to Kentucky, to the Congress, and to our Country," the California Democrat, who last year stepped aside as her party's leader in the House, said in a statement, reports Politico.
Pelosi added that she and McConnell, R-Ky., have worked together "since we were appropriators, long before either of us were leaders in the Congress."
Pelosi acknowledged that she and McConnell often disagreed, but still "shared our responsibility to the American people to find common ground whenever possible," and said she sends her best wishes to him and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
Pelosi, like McConnell, has chosen to remain in Congress after dropping her leadership role.
McConnell announced Wednesday on the Senate floor that he will step down from the role he has held as party leader for almost 17 years, saying that it is "time for the next generation of leadership."
Even though he is leaving his leadership role, McConnell said he plans to finish his term in the Senate, which ends in January 2027, "albeit from a different seat in the chamber."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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