Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah), a former GOP presidential nominee who later criticized fellow Republican Donald Trump, delivered his farewell address on the Senate floor Wednesday, stressing the importance of bipartisanship and promising to be “a voice of unity and virtue” after he leaves Washington.
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“There are some today who would tear at our unity, who would replace love with hate, who would deride our foundation of virtue or who debase the values on which the blessings of heaven depend,” Romney said in his floor speech. Appearing somewhat emotional at times, Romney praised his fellow senators, and he expressed one regret: not resolving the growing national debt.
“I will leave this chamber with a sense of achievement, but in truth, I will also leave with the recognition that I did not achieve everything I hoped,” Romney said. “Among other things, the scourge of partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize our national debt.”
Romney, 77, joined the Senate in 2019 and announced his decision to retire after one term, telling The Washington Post last year that it was time for the next generation to “step up” and “shape the world they’re going to live in.” He also said a second Senate term would be less productive than his first, blaming discord among House Republicans and his own lack of confidence in the leadership of President Joe Biden and Trump.
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His retirement marks the end of a political career, during which he observed the transformation of his political party and, at times, drew ire from its leader.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) spoke before Romney, highlighting Romney’s political achievements and “unshakable convictions.”
“On the Bingo cards of American politics, the governor-of-Massachusetts-senator-from-Utah combination isn’t known to be hit very often,” McConnell said. “But Mitt Romney’s repeated success in public office is a testament to his transcendent appeal of his character.”
Sen. Joe Manchin III (I-West Virginia), who’s also set to leave the Senate, emphasized Romney’s close relationships with senators across the political spectrum.
Romney was born in Michigan, where his father served as governor, and he attended Brigham Young University in Utah. A Mormon venture capitalist who co-founded the private equity firm Bain Capital, he emerged as a household name when he was picked to lead the organization responsible for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, helping steer the games out of a fiscal crisis. The same year as the Games, he ran and won the governor’s race in Massachusetts, serving from 2003 through 2007, where he helped develop and institute a universal health-care law dubbed “Romneycare.”
After the governorship, Romney launched an unsuccessful presidential bid, losing the Republican nomination in 2008 to Sen. John McCain (Arizona). Four years later, Romney ran again and became the Republican presidential nominee, but he lost the general election to the incumbent Democratic president, Barack Obama.
Four years later, he opted against another presidential run, but was an early Republican critic of Trump, calling him a “phony” who was “playing members of the American public for suckers.”
After Trump won the 2016 election, Romney made it to the short list of names being considered to be secretary of state. And amid reports that he was in consideration for the role that late fall, footage of Romney and Trump dining in a dimly lit restaurant at Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York went viral, with some mocking Romney for his apparent about-face. Trump, whose isolationist views were expected to be at odds with Romney’s more hawkish positions on foreign policy, eventually picked Rex Tillerson for the chief diplomat role.
The following year, Trump endorsed Romney’s 2018 campaign to replace Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R), who was retiring. Romney won the seat and joined the Senate the following year.
Days before he was set to be sworn in, Romney published a scathing op-ed in The Post, criticizing recent key departures among Trump’s top advisers and the president’s claim in remarks to U.S. service members in Iraq that America has long been a “sucker” in world affairs. Romney wrote that Trump’s “conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.”
Romney was the only member of the Senate Republican conference to vote to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials.
In 2020, Romney became the first senator in U.S. history to vote to remove a president of his own party from office, voting to convict Trump in the 2020 impeachment trial on the charge of abuse of power, which centered on allegations that Trump tried to withhold U.S. taxpayer-funded aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential campaign.
At the time, Romney cited his own religious faith for his decision, saying in a speech on the Senate floor: “I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice. I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am.”
After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Romney was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial on a charge of inciting the insurrection. The senator had denounced Trump’s efforts to get Republicans to object to the 2020 presidential election results.
Ahead of Romney’s speech on Wednesday, his Senate office outlined his list of accomplishments while representing Utah in Congress, specifically citing his efforts to find common ground during a time marked by division on issues related to “U.S. dependence on China for microchips and critical minerals, emergency COVID relief, reforms to the Electoral Count Act, bipartisan gun safety legislation, and securing religious liberty protections in the Respect for Marriage Act.”
Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) is slated to replace Romney in the Senate in January.
Get the latest election news and results“There are some today who would tear at our unity, who would replace love with hate, who would deride our foundation of virtue or who debase the values on which the blessings of heaven depend,” Romney said in his floor speech. Appearing somewhat emotional at times, Romney praised his fellow senators, and he expressed one regret: not resolving the growing national debt.
“I will leave this chamber with a sense of achievement, but in truth, I will also leave with the recognition that I did not achieve everything I hoped,” Romney said. “Among other things, the scourge of partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize our national debt.”
Romney, 77, joined the Senate in 2019 and announced his decision to retire after one term, telling The Washington Post last year that it was time for the next generation to “step up” and “shape the world they’re going to live in.” He also said a second Senate term would be less productive than his first, blaming discord among House Republicans and his own lack of confidence in the leadership of President Joe Biden and Trump.
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Follow Politics
His retirement marks the end of a political career, during which he observed the transformation of his political party and, at times, drew ire from its leader.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) spoke before Romney, highlighting Romney’s political achievements and “unshakable convictions.”
“On the Bingo cards of American politics, the governor-of-Massachusetts-senator-from-Utah combination isn’t known to be hit very often,” McConnell said. “But Mitt Romney’s repeated success in public office is a testament to his transcendent appeal of his character.”
Sen. Joe Manchin III (I-West Virginia), who’s also set to leave the Senate, emphasized Romney’s close relationships with senators across the political spectrum.
Romney was born in Michigan, where his father served as governor, and he attended Brigham Young University in Utah. A Mormon venture capitalist who co-founded the private equity firm Bain Capital, he emerged as a household name when he was picked to lead the organization responsible for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, helping steer the games out of a fiscal crisis. The same year as the Games, he ran and won the governor’s race in Massachusetts, serving from 2003 through 2007, where he helped develop and institute a universal health-care law dubbed “Romneycare.”
After the governorship, Romney launched an unsuccessful presidential bid, losing the Republican nomination in 2008 to Sen. John McCain (Arizona). Four years later, Romney ran again and became the Republican presidential nominee, but he lost the general election to the incumbent Democratic president, Barack Obama.
Four years later, he opted against another presidential run, but was an early Republican critic of Trump, calling him a “phony” who was “playing members of the American public for suckers.”
After Trump won the 2016 election, Romney made it to the short list of names being considered to be secretary of state. And amid reports that he was in consideration for the role that late fall, footage of Romney and Trump dining in a dimly lit restaurant at Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York went viral, with some mocking Romney for his apparent about-face. Trump, whose isolationist views were expected to be at odds with Romney’s more hawkish positions on foreign policy, eventually picked Rex Tillerson for the chief diplomat role.
The following year, Trump endorsed Romney’s 2018 campaign to replace Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R), who was retiring. Romney won the seat and joined the Senate the following year.
Days before he was set to be sworn in, Romney published a scathing op-ed in The Post, criticizing recent key departures among Trump’s top advisers and the president’s claim in remarks to U.S. service members in Iraq that America has long been a “sucker” in world affairs. Romney wrote that Trump’s “conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.”
Romney was the only member of the Senate Republican conference to vote to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials.
In 2020, Romney became the first senator in U.S. history to vote to remove a president of his own party from office, voting to convict Trump in the 2020 impeachment trial on the charge of abuse of power, which centered on allegations that Trump tried to withhold U.S. taxpayer-funded aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential campaign.
At the time, Romney cited his own religious faith for his decision, saying in a speech on the Senate floor: “I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice. I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am.”
After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Romney was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial on a charge of inciting the insurrection. The senator had denounced Trump’s efforts to get Republicans to object to the 2020 presidential election results.
Ahead of Romney’s speech on Wednesday, his Senate office outlined his list of accomplishments while representing Utah in Congress, specifically citing his efforts to find common ground during a time marked by division on issues related to “U.S. dependence on China for microchips and critical minerals, emergency COVID relief, reforms to the Electoral Count Act, bipartisan gun safety legislation, and securing religious liberty protections in the Respect for Marriage Act.”
Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) is slated to replace Romney in the Senate in January.
