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McConnell on potential GOP Senate leader challenge: "I don't own the job"

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday confirmed that he plans to run for another term as the GOP's leader in the chamber but said, "I don't own the job," when asked about a potential challenge by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Driving the news: "Anybody in the conference can run if they choose to," McConnell said at a Punchbowl News event on Thursday.


  • McConnell also said that "Obviously, I'm going to run again for leader."
  • "I never thought honestly I'd get to the Senate, so I'm extremely proud of the fact that my members have elected me without opposition as many times as they have and I hope they'll do it one more time at least," he added.

The big picture: McConnell's remarks come as he and Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, feud over their party's midterm election plan.

  • Scott unveiled a policy agenda ahead of the midterms, dubbed an 11-point plan to "rescue America," which McConnell and other top Republicans emphatically rejected.
  • "We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years," McConnell told a crowd of reporters at the Capitol earlier this month.
  • Former President Trump has privately pushed Scott to challenge McConnell for Senate majority leader, Politico reports.

Go deeper: McConnell rejects NRSC Chair Rick Scott's tax pitch

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