McConnell announces post-leadership role chairing defense budget panel

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.

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“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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McConnell could also be instrumental in blocking some of his more controversial Cabinet nominees, among them Tulsi Gabbard, an anti-war firebrand chosen to lead U.S. intelligence agencies.

It is not yet clear how outspoken McConnell plans to be outside of leadership. But he has so far attempted not to outshine incoming Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

On Tuesday, he declined to express a view on how Thune should handle the question of recess appointments, a way for Trump to place his nominees without Senate confirmation.

Outside of defense, McConnell announced that he will chair the Senate Rules Committee, a lower-profile body responsible for contested elections and the administration of Senate rules and procedures. 

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“Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities,” McConnell said.

He will take the place of Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), currently the ranking Republican.