McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR
4.5 • 24.9K Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Then, Donald Trump signed another executive order on Tuesday, giving him expanded power over independent agencies.
This episode: political correspondents Sarah McCammon and Susan Davis, White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, and senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson.
The podcast is produced by Bria Suggs & Kelli Wessinger, and edited by Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
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Transcript
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| 0:18.4 | Hey, this is David in Wichita, Kansas. |
| 0:21.1 | I'm just leaving an event featuring Sarah McCammon, sharing her experience covering politics in the 2024 election. |
| 0:28.3 | This show was recorded at... |
| 0:30.0 | 12.38 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, February 20th, 2025. |
| 0:34.9 | Let's be honest. Things have probably changed by the time you're hearing this. Now here's the show. |
| 0:43.7 | Love a McCammon fan stamp. That's so nice. Thank you, David. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics |
| 0:48.6 | podcast. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. I'm Susan Davis. I also cover politics. And I'm Mara Liason, senior national political correspondent. |
| 0:57.0 | And just a short time ago, Senator Mitch McConnell announced his retirement on the Senate floor. |
| 1:02.8 | Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate. |
| 1:08.7 | Every day. In between, I've been humbled by the trust they placed in me to do their |
| 1:16.0 | business right here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term |
| 1:36.0 | in the Senate will be my last. The Kentucky Republican was one of the most influential politicians |
| 1:43.0 | of the modern era. Sue Davis, |
| 1:45.6 | you've been covering him for years. What is he saying about why he's ready to retire now? |
| 1:49.6 | It is not a surprise. I think that it was long expected that McConnell would retire. He was up for |
| 1:54.4 | re-election in 2026. He announced last year he would step down as leader of the party, paving the |
| 1:59.8 | wave for John Thune to |
| 2:00.9 | become majority leader. But he's had a lot of health issues. He's been hospitalized. Even |
... |
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