Politico reports that Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will resign from his leadership post as Republican Conference chairman, the No. 3 job in the Senate GOP hierarchy and abandon his hopes to ascend to the Republican whip job in the next Congress.
In a letter sent to Republican senators this morning, Alexander says the decision was rooted in his desire to foster consensus in the gridlocked Senate, a role he felt he was unable to play while tasked with leading the Republican Conference.
‘Stepping down from leadership will liberate me to spend more time working for results on the issues I care most about,’ Alexander said in the letter. ‘I want to do more to make the Senate a more effective institution so that it can deal better with serious issues. There are different ways to provide leadership within the Senate. After nine years here, this is how I believe I can now make my greatest contribution.’
