Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was the lone Republican to vote against Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and CNN analysts agreed he's got "nothing to lose" in opposing president Donald Trump.
The former Senate Republican leader spoke out against Gabbard's disqualifications for the job and described her as a risk to national security, and he also opposed defense secretary Pete Hegseth's nomination, and CNN's David Chalian said those votes show McConnell's role has changed after giving up his leadership role.
"You know, watching Mitch McConnell right now on the Senate floor and how he votes is one of the most fascinating things to watch, because he clearly sees a different role for himself now that he is not the leader of the Republicans in the Senate," said Chalian. "Now that he is one of the many, he seems freed up a bit more to vote his conscience rather than lead his conference to a particular vote, and it just is really fascinating. You saw him vote against Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, against Tulsi Gabbard. I will be very intrigued to see this polio survivor who has real belief and advocacy for vaccines, I will be very curious to see how he's going to cast this ultimate ballot for [Health and Human Services] secretary nominee Robert Kennedy Jr. It could be that he votes against here, too."
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"It does make you wonder if Mitch McConnell wasn't the leader of Republicans back in 2021," Chalian added, "might have his vote on impeachment relating to Donald Trump in the aftermath of Jan. 6 been different, given his scathing floor remarks at the time, it just seems that Mitch McConnell has been unleashed here a little bit to vote in a way that is very different than how he was voting when he was the leader."
"Yeah, unleashed," agreed CNN's Sara Sidner. "Partly because he has nothing to lose. He's not going to run for re-election."
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