Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will not run for reelection in 2026, he announced in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday morning.

Although the prize is a Senate seat that will be open for the first time in more than 40 years, leading Kentucky Democrats did not rush to embrace the challenge in a state that has turned solidly Republican in recent years.

Republican senators pushed a $340-billion budget framework to passage over Democratic objections after a nearly all-night vote.

Republicans’ budget blueprint cleared the Senate, but a Democratic amendment marathon aimed to put GOP lawmakers on the record regarding potential Medicaid cuts and other politically sensitive issues.