Mitch McConnell has announced that he will step down from the US Senate.
The powerful Republican politician was instrumental in steering the current US shift to the political right but had a tempestuous relationship with US President Donald Trump.
Turning 83 today, and in increasingly unsteady health, Mr McConnell's announcement that he will not seek reelection when his term expires was not a big surprise.
Mr McConnell stepped down last year as the longest-serving leader in Senate history.
Mr McConnell unveiled his plan to retire on his 83rd birthday, saying in prepared remarks for a floor speech that representing Kentucky in the Senate since 1985 has been "the honor of a lifetime."
"I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last," Mr McConnell said in remarks published in advance by the Associated Press.
"Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate," he said.
"Every day in between I've been humbled by the trust they've placed in me to do their business here," he added.
