"No longer in charge, Sen. Mitch McConnell is speaking his mind," said Lisa Mascaro in the Associated Press. Now in his seventh and final term, the 83-year-old former Senate Republican leader has opposed President Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominees — "alone."
Last week, McConnell was the sole GOP senator to vote against confirming Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, calling them unqualified and extreme. He also voted "no" on Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary. That's because McConnell is an actual conservative, not a Trumpist, said Jay Nordlinger in National Review. He "tells the truth" about the Jan. 6. insurrection and the 2020 election results, fully supports Ukraine, and opposes Trump's tariffs as a tax on Americans. A furious Trump called McConnell a "loser" and "failure" for voting against Gabbard and Kennedy, both of whom used to be "despised" by Republicans. "So who changed? The Republicans or McConnell? Not McConnell."
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