Mitch McConnell

McConnell was married to Sherrill Redmon from 1968 to 1980, and they had three daughters, Elly, Claire, and Porter. He married Elaine Chao in 1993. Chao later served as secretary of labor under President George W. Bush and secretary of transportation under President Donald Trump.

McConnell overcame polio during childhood after several years of difficult treatment. He underwent heart surgery for blocked arteries in 2003 and injured his shoulder in a 2019 fall. In 2023, he sustained a concussion after a fall and later twice froze during public remarks, prompting scrutiny of his ability to serve. He was hospitalized in early 2026 after experiencing flu-like symptoms.

McConnell was born Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr. His family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, when he was 13. He became interested in politics early, serving as student body president at his high school and later at the University of Louisville.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville in 1964 and a law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1967. McConnell worked as an intern for Senator John Sherman Cooper, served as chief legislative assistant to Senator Marlow Cook, and became deputy assistant attorney general under President Gerald Ford. Before entering the Senate, he was judge-executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky.

McConnell was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and sworn in on January 3, 1985. He was the first Republican from Kentucky to reach the Senate since 1968. During his early Senate career, he served on the Rules, Agriculture, Appropriations, and Judiciary committees and chaired the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

After winning reelection in 2002 with 64 percent of the vote, McConnell became known as “Landslide McConnell.” He was unanimously elected Republican majority whip that November. Republicans elected him minority leader in 2006, and he became majority leader after the party regained control of the Senate in 2014. He returned to the position of minority leader in 2021 after Democrats gained control of the chamber.

McConnell used the filibuster extensively to oppose Democratic legislation and judicial appointments during the Obama administration. He also supported bipartisan measures to raise the debt ceiling and avoid government shutdowns, even when some Republicans opposed them. In January 2023, he became the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history.

Opposition to campaign finance reform became one of McConnell’s signature issues. He challenged the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act, arguing that restrictions on political spending violated free speech. The Supreme Court upheld the law’s constitutionality in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission in 2003.

As Republican leader, McConnell opposed major Democratic initiatives, including health care reform, gun-control measures, and proposed increases to the minimum wage. He also backed liability reform, supported Kentucky tobacco growers, and opposed congressional term limits. In 2012, he filibustered a debt-ceiling bill of his own after the measure became part of a political strategy that backfired.

McConnell played a central role in shifting the federal judiciary to the right. In 2016, he refused to bring President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland to a vote, arguing that the vacancy should remain open until after the presidential election. After Donald Trump became president, McConnell oversaw the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. He also helped advance numerous conservative nominees to lower federal courts.

In 2017, McConnell led a change to Senate rules that ended the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. He supported much of Trump’s agenda, including the major tax-reform law passed in 2017, and coordinated Republican support during Trump’s first impeachment trial. McConnell blocked a call for witnesses and voted to acquit Trump.

After the 2020 election, McConnell initially delayed acknowledging Joe Biden’s victory but later urged Republican senators to certify the Electoral College results. Following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, he said Trump bore responsibility for provoking the violence. McConnell nevertheless voted to acquit Trump in the subsequent Senate impeachment trial, arguing that the Senate could not convict a former president who was no longer in office.

McConnell announced in 2024 that he would step down as Senate Republican leader in November of that year. In 2025, he announced that he would serve out his Senate term but would not seek reelection in 2026.