Mitch McConnell won’t become Senate majority leader again. What that means for his power

McConnell won't get his old job as Senate majority leader back in January after voters decided to let Democrats keep control of Congress.

It was not clear what the outcome of Tuesday's election would mean for control of the Senate for a few days. Democrats secured the majority this weekend when Sen. Catherine Masto of Nevada won her reelection.

McConnell and the GOP wanted to flip the Senate in last week's election. After Democrats won a razor-thin majority in the Senate, McConnell was demoted to the position of Senate minority leader.

He will be able to wield a lot of power.

McConnell still can't set the Senate's agenda

The majority leader can decide which proposals don't make it to the Senate.

McConnell used the power to block bills when he worked for that company. He was criticized for the "legislative graveyard" of proposals that didn't make it to his desk.

Chuck Schumer is going to keep setting the agenda because of Democrats' win.

McConnell can continue blocking things, though

McConnell and other Republican senators are able to block most legislation because Democrats didn't win a majority.

Thanks to the filibuster, Democrats need the support of several Republicans to pass a lot of proposals. McConnell and his team have control over what bills succeed and fail.

They are not able to block everything. Senate Democrats can approve President Joe Biden's nominees to the federal judiciary even if they don't have the support of their Republican colleagues.

McConnell can still lead filibusters, but he won't stymies everything. Two particularly notable bipartisan laws have been supported by him.

He keeps negotiating power for Kentucky

McConnell's successful reelection bid in 2020 focused on how he helps his home state punch above its weight compared with heavy hitters like California.

When it comes to delivering government funds to Kentucky, his clout isn't as strong as it was when he was majority leader.

Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky, said that McConnell's loss of the majority leadership didn't endanger the commonwealth.

Kentucky gets a disproportionate share of federal dollars because of its high poverty rate. One of Congress' top four leaders is McConnell.

McConnell said in a January 2021 interview that he'd still be one of the Big Four and that each of them had veto power over what went in and what didn't.

Morgan Watkins can be reached at mwatkins@courier Journal.com. You can follow her on the social media site.

McConnell won't be the Senate majority leader, according to this article. That's what it means.