U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) faces reporters throughout a information convention the place he mentioned his intention to not search reelection following the top of his present time period, which ends in January 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 13, 2023.
Leah Millis | Reuters
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah on Wednesday introduced that he won’t search reelection subsequent 12 months. His present time period ends in early 2025.
“Whereas I am not working for reelection, I am not retiring from the struggle,” Romney, 76, mentioned in a video posted to X, previously Twitter.
Romney highlighted his age as he introduced his resolution.
“I’ve spent my final 25 years in public service of 1 sort or one other. On the finish of one other time period, I would be in my mid-80s,” Romney mentioned.
“Frankly, it is time for a brand new technology of leaders,” he mentioned. “They’re those that have to make the selections that may form the world they are going to be residing in.”
Whether or not intentional or not, these remarks drew an implicit distinction with a few of Romney’s even older colleagues, together with 81-year-old Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Each have suffered latest public well being scares which have raised considerations about whether or not they can carry out their duties.
Romney mentioned in August that he would reveal his resolution on working for one more Senate time period by the autumn.
Romney was elected to the Senate in 2018, a return to elected workplace for the previous governor of Massachusetts who mounted a failed bid to unseat then-President Barack Obama in 2012.
In Congress, Romney distinguished himself as one in all former President Donald Trump’s few outspoken Republican critics. He was the one Republican to vote to convict Trump following his first impeachment trial in early 2020, a call that drew a scornful response from Trump and his allies.
Romney joined six different Republican senators in 2021 who voted to convict Trump following his second impeachment for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol rebellion.
Trump, 77, ripped Romney in an all-caps social media put up celebrating his resolution to retire as “improbable information for America.”
Romney’s animosity towards Trump predated his election to the Senate. Within the 2016 election cycle, Romney unleashed a torrent of criticism towards Trump, denouncing the then-rising star of the GOP as a “fraud” and inspiring voters to select one in all his remaining major challengers.
However after Trump defied Romney’s prediction by defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton within the basic election, Romney traveled to Trump’s golf membership for a non-public assembly, fueling hypothesis that he was within the working for a Cupboard position.
Romney critiqued each Trump and 80-year-old President Joe Biden — each of whom are working for president once more in 2024 — in Wednesday’s video.
“We face vital challenges — mounting nationwide debt, local weather change, and the bold authoritarians of Russia and China. Neither President Biden nor former President Trump are main their occasion to confront these points,” Romney mentioned.
“On the deficits and debt, each males refuse to deal with entitlements though they signify two-thirds of federal spending. Donald Trump calls international warming a hoax and President Biden provides feel-good options that may make no distinction to the worldwide local weather. On China, President Biden underinvests within the army and President Trump underinvests in our alliances,” he mentioned.
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for touch upon Romney’s remarks.
“Political motivations too typically impede the options that these challenges demand,” Romney mentioned. “The subsequent technology of leaders should take America to the following stage of worldwide management.”
Romney vowed to maintain engaged on a variety of points by the top of his time period in January 2025.
“It’s a profound honor to serve Utah and the nation,” he mentioned, “and I thanks for giving me the chance to take action.”
This text was initially revealed by cnbc.com. Learn the unique article right here.
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