McConnell has already made clear he won’t be shrinking from the national spotlight, even as a rank-and-file member. He sees himself as a voice against a new brand of Republican isolationism and plans to use his seniority in the Senate to speak out on foreign policy.

But an open question is how prominent a role McConnell carves out for himself as he prepares to hand the reins to Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), who Senate Republicans elected as majority leader on Wednesday.

McConnell could maintain his influence over the defense budget with a Senate Appropriations subcommittee chairmanship. Of greater interest is whether he becomes a check on President-elect Donald Trump, who is freshly testing the Senate’s deference with a string of controversial Cabinet nominees.

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McConnell alone won’t have veto power with a three-seat majority next year, but he is among a handful of pragmatic Senate Republicans who have butted heads with Trump and could shape his agenda with their votes.

“I don’t know that he wants to play that role, but if he does, he could do it better than anybody,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said of McConnell’s influence. “I mean, he knows both our process and he knows the politics of it very, very well.”

McConnell’s journey to retirement is not unlike that of Pelosi, who stepped down as House speaker at the start of the new Congress.

Each relinquished their titles on their own terms, but with their power starting to wane after record-setting tenures atop their respective caucuses. McConnell, 82, has led Senate Republicans for nearly 18 years, while Pelosi, 84, led House Democrats for 20.

It is not yet clear how long McConnell will serve outside of leadership. His term ends in 2026, and he has not committed to another run in his home state of Kentucky. Pelosi, for her part, signaled interest in staying on for another two years, filing paperwork on Thursday to run again for her San Francisco-area district.

Still, Republicans agree McConnell’s presence will be felt in the Senate for as long as he stays. He is reviled by the grassroots for his establishment streak but retains enormous respect among his colleagues after serving nearly four decades in the Senate.

“Just by virtue of his influence, which is earned by experience, not by title, he will always have a bit of a sage role, for sure,” Cramer told the Washington Examiner.

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In the case of Pelosi, she remains a shadow leader of her party despite her early insistence that she would take a back seat, serving largely in an advisory role.

She took no committee assignments but has guided the party through the turbulence of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, quietly helping convince him to step down after his disastrous debate performance against Trump.

Biden’s replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, still lost to Trump, but the swap was seen as a way to limit losses in the House and Senate.

“I think she sees herself as being transitional to the next generation of leadership in the House, and wants to be literally on hand to usher in future Democratic majorities,” said Steven Maviglio, a California Democratic strategist.

Trump, fresh off a commanding election win, has a far tighter grip on his party than Biden and will be given wide latitude given the role he played in cementing a 53-seat Senate majority. The same goes for the House, where he helped Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) retain narrow control.

But McConnell’s stated interest in opposing Trump’s less hawkish stance on foreign policy could quickly become a point of conflict. He may also resist Trump’s attempts to break Senate norms, especially when it comes to recess appointments for hard-to-confirm Cabinet nominees.

In recent days, Trump has raised eyebrows with his selection of firebrand Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Tulsi Gabbard to lead the intelligence agencies, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run Health and Human Services.

How McConnell responds to Trump’s Cabinet picks will be an early test of how much influence he wields, or chooses to wield. McConnell could also butt heads with Trump if he takes over the defense portfolio from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on the Appropriations Committee.

Collins, a close ally who delivered a tribute to McConnell when he announced his retirement on the Senate floor in February, said it is only “natural” that senators will look to him as Republicans return to power in Washington. 

But she downplayed the idea that he would attempt to influence the conference in a way that conflicts with Thune, who will be under immense pressure to enact Trump’s agenda while preserving the Senate’s independence.

“I’m sure he won’t try to second-guess the new leader or undermine Sen. Thune in any way, but it’s just natural that he will have well-developed ideas and strategies on a host of issues and that members want to hear them,” she said.

One possible change with McConnell’s retirement is that he starts to engage with the press. He rarely answers questions in the halls of Congress, but has teased he may soon do so.

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The monumental shift, however, will be in how the Senate is run. For years, leadership in both parties have kept the deal-making limited to a select few, upsetting the more conservative Republicans whose votes were decisive in electing Thune.

Next year, Thune has promised more member input and a return to regular order.