Sen. Peter Domenici (R-N.M.) last week announced he will not seek another term in office but will stay through the remainder of this Congress.
Domenici has been a member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee and a strong supporter of missile defense and energy issues.
He said this week he is stepping down because he has a degenerative brain disease that doctors have said is progressing.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) praised Domenici as one of the top five senators he had worked with.
“He is a giant, and New Mexico has never had a more forceful advocate,” McConnell said in a statement.
In a press briefing with reporters, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), also a member of the appropriations defense subcommittee, called Domenici “one of the real leaders of the Republican caucus” who understood ways to work together in ways that were not always visible to the press. “We will miss him,” she said.