WASHINGTON (AP) — Aides for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell confirmed last week that the senator remains hospitalized and is “continuing his recovery,” but they have offered virtually no details about what is keeping him there. With the Senate currently on a break, questions are mounting about whether McConnell will be back at the Capitol when lawmakers return next week.
McConnell was first admitted to the hospital on June 14. His office issued a brief statement at that time saying only that he was “receiving excellent care.” About a week later, a follow-up statement noted he would not be casting any votes that week. Then, on Thursday, his office released another update saying he “continues to improve” and “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.”
No further updates have been issued since that Thursday statement. A spokeswoman for the senator did not respond to a request for comment made on Monday.
This latest hospitalization is not McConnell’s first. The 84-year-old senator has dealt with several health-related setbacks in recent years. He was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 after taking a fall at a Washington hotel, causing him to miss multiple weeks of work. When he returned to the Senate that summer, he twice appeared to freeze during news conferences, staring blankly ahead before colleagues and staff stepped in to help him. The following year, he fell and sprained his wrist while leaving a Republican luncheon.
McConnell’s health challenges go back even further. He contracted polio as a young child and has long acknowledged that walking and climbing stairs can be difficult for him as an adult. In 2019, he fell at his home in Kentucky and required surgery to repair a fractured shoulder.
The senator’s current health situation is unfolding at a sensitive time for Senate Republicans, who are managing a narrow majority in the chamber during the final stretch before the midterm elections. McConnell, who is serving out his final Senate term set to expire in January, was the longest-serving Senate leader in American history before stepping down from that role last year. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and led Senate Republicans from 2007 until last year, holding both the majority and minority leader positions during that span. Even after leaving leadership, he has continued showing up for Senate sessions, frequently relying on a wheelchair to get around the Capitol.
