Sen. Mitch McConnell has spent three weeks in the hospital, and his office still will not say what sent the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican there, his latest condition or when he might return.
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McConnell, who has served in the Senate since 1985 and led Senate Republicans from 2007 until 2025, has not cast a vote since June 11. His absence comes as Republicans are navigating a narrow Senate majority. It has helped stall spending bills in the Appropriations Committee and added uncertainty around a senator already in the final months of his career.
Here’s what we know about his health.
McConnell was admitted to the hospital on the morning of June 14, according to a statement from his office that said that he was “receiving excellent care.”
EMS dispatch audio from the morning of June 14 suggests that emergency medical personnel were sent to McConnell’s home to attend to an unconscious person in cardiac arrest.
According to the dispatch audio, a call went out at 8:36 a.m. for an “unconscious” person at McConnell’s address, and an ambulance was sent with an advanced life support crew. Six minutes later a medic radioed that CPR was “in progress.” At 8:43 a.m., a dispatcher relayed the emergency as a “cardiac arrest.” McConnell is named nowhere in the recording, though the address is his.
The next day, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) — the top two Senate Republicans — told reporters that they had spoken to McConnell.
McConnell’s office has been quiet on his condition in the weeks since and has not provided additional information on his treatment or the cause for his hospitalization.
On June 22, eight days after McConnell was hospitalized, his office said that he wouldn’t be voting that week “as he continues his recovery.”
Thune, on the same day, told reporters that he spoke with McConnell “toward the end of last week” and that McConnell “sounded good and was anxious to get back.”
A July 2 statement from McConnell’s office provided little new information but said he was still in the hospital.
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“The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session,” his office said.
His office has not provided additional information since and did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Any extended absence for McConnell could make matters more difficult for Republicans to pass legislation this year, as it would temporarily shrink their majority to 52-47 in the chamber.
McConnell’s absence also further complicates matters for the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is already running behind schedule. The committee has not advanced any spending bills for the 2027 fiscal year due to disagreements over defense funding.
Without McConnell, the Senate Appropriations committee is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. This could prevent Republicans from advancing their spending priorities if all Democrats vote against them, as any vote within the committee that splits evenly along party lines would fail.
The committee already had postponed plans to markup spending bills during the week of June 22 due in part to McConnell’s absence, according to a Republican aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
McConnell did not run for reelection this year and is set to retire from the Senate in January at the end of his term.
McConnell’s health has drawn repeated attention in recent years.
McConnell had polio as a child and has long had difficulty climbing stairs.
In March 2023, he was hospitalized after falling at a Washington hotel and was away from the Senate floor for several weeks. Months later, he had two highly public episodes in which he stopped speaking during news conferences and had to be helped by others.
He was injured again in December 2024 after tripping outside a Senate Republican lunch, and earlier this year, he spent more than a week in the hospital after his office said he had flu-like symptoms.
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Jarrell Dillard contributed to this report.
