Outgoing Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is slated to speak about U.S. foreign policy at a conservative conference later this month featuring a slate of high-profile Republican figures.
McConnell will be addressing America’s role in the world, the filibuster, Senate elections, and conservatives’s Supreme Court victories at conservative commentator Erick Erickson’s annual conference, The Gathering, set to take place next week, a source familiar with the planning told National Review.
“The GOP is pretty united on winning, but divided on what to do if we win. Between the Speaker of the House, the Senate Republican leader, the leaders of the right in the House and Senate, and governors from across the country, the goal is to have a conversation about the future, what policies we can advance on common ground, and how we mediate our differences to both win and advance policies the right can embrace,” Erickson said in a statement provided to NR.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), former vice president Mike Pence, Governor Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), Governor Brian Kemp (R., Ga.), Governor Glenn Youngkin (R., Va.), Senator Rick Scott (R., Fla.), and other Republican lawmakers are also scheduled to speak at the conference in Atlanta, Ga.
Besides the politicians, The Gathering will feature discussions on policy issues such as taxes, the national debt, and the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party. All three issues are high on the list of priorities for Republican lawmakers.
In February, McConnell, 82, announced he will be stepping down as the GOP’s Senate leader this November after a series of health scares last year received widespread attention. To cap off one of the most consequential Senate tenures in American history, McConnell is focused on ensuring the U.S. continues to support its allies worldwide with a robust foreign policy, in contrast to the growing faction of the Republican Party skeptical of U.S. engagement abroad.
“I’m unconflicted about the good within our country and the irreplaceable role we play as the leader of the free world,” McConnell said in his announcement. “Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time.”
At the time, a bipartisan foreign-aid package was stuck in the House after sailing through the Senate. In April, President Joe Biden signed a similar piece of legislation granting $95 billion of support for U.S. allies, including roughly $60 billion for Ukraine to continue its war against Russia.
A vocal contingent of Republican lawmakers in both chambers have strongly opposed Ukraine aid. They believe a maximalist approach to the war is not beneficial to U.S. interests and diverts limited resources away from other important parts of the world.
One of the GOP’s most vocal Ukraine aid skeptics, Senator J. D. Vance (R., Ohio) is the party’s vice-presidential nominee, running alongside former president Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election.
Trump himself appears to be less skeptical of supporting Ukraine than his most fervent supporters, and the issue of Ukraine aid has not played a significant role in GOP primary outcomes this cycle, reflecting the oftentimes insular nature of American foreign-policy debates.