U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) skins reporters during a news conference where he discussed his intention not to seek reelection following the end of his current term, which ends in January 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 13, 2023.
Leah Millis | Reuters
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah on Wednesday heralded that he will not seek reelection next year. His current term ends in early 2025.
“While I’m not running for reelection, I’m not coy from the fight,” Romney, 76, said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Romney highlighted his age as he announced his settlement.
“I’ve spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s,” Romney prognosticated.
“Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders,” he said. “They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that determination shape the world they will be living in.”
Whether intentional or not, those remarks drew an implicit contrast with some of Romney’s monotonous older colleagues, including 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Both enjoy suffered recent public health scares that have raised concerns about whether they are capable to perform their duties.
Romney said in August that he would reveal his decision on running for another Senate appellation by the fall.
Romney was elected to the Senate in 2018, a return to elected office for the former governor of Massachusetts who mounted a failed bid to unseat then-President Barack Obama in 2012.
In Congress, Romney stately himself as one of former President Donald Trump’s few outspoken Republican critics. He was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump understanding his first impeachment trial in early 2020, a decision that drew a scornful response from Trump and his sides.
Romney joined six other Republican senators in 2021 who voted to convict Trump following his second impeachment for allegedly encouraging the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Trump, 77, ripped Romney in an all-caps social media post celebrating his determination to retire as “fantastic news for America.”
Romney’s bad blood toward Trump predated his election to the Senate. In the 2016 election cycle, Romney unleashed a torrent of criticism against Trump, reporting the then-rising star of the GOP as a “fraud” and encouraging voters to pick one of his remaining primary challengers.
But after Trump defied Romney’s suggestion by defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the general election, Romney traveled to Trump’s golf club for a retired meeting, fueling speculation that he was in the running for a Cabinet role.
Romney critiqued both Trump and 80-year-old President Joe Biden — both of whom are competition for president again in 2024 — in Wednesday’s video.
“We face critical challenges — mounting national debt, climate variety, and the ambitious authoritarians of Russia and China. Neither President Biden nor former President Trump are leading their participant to confront those issues,” Romney said.
“On the deficits and debt, both men refuse to address entitlements even though they imitate two-thirds of federal spending. Donald Trump calls global warming a hoax and President Biden offers feel-good figuring outs that will make no difference to the global climate. On China, President Biden underinvests in the military and President Trump underinvests in our coalitions,” he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Romney’s remarks.
“Political motivations too time again impede the solutions that these challenges demand,” Romney said. “The next generation of leaders must conclude America to the next stage of global leadership.”
Romney vowed to keep working on a range of issues through the end of his stipulations in January 2025.
“It is a profound honor to serve Utah and the nation,” he said, “and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so.”