Scant details have not quieted rumors and online speculation about the former Senate Republican leader’s condition.
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Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is facing growing calls to be more transparent about his health nearly six weeks after he was hospitalized.
McConnell, 84, has been absent from the Senate since he said he suffered a fall June 14. His office shared a photo of McConnell holding The Washington Post on July 12, and McConnell said in a statement that he had left the hospital and moved to a rehabilitation center — but he did not say when he planned to return, offering only that he would not “be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet.”
Those scant details have not quieted rampant rumors and online speculation about McConnell’s condition.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said last week that he had heard nothing from McConnell since he was hospitalized, despite sending a letter seeking an update on his condition. He urged McConnell to call into a news station for a few minutes or put out a short video to reassure his constituents.
“When you’ve been in a hospital for a month and you’ve missed all the votes … you owe your boss, like anybody else out there who works, an explanation of what’s been going on and when you’ll get back,” Beshear said.
Scott Jennings, a longtime McConnell ally who worked on some of his reelection campaigns, urged McConnell on Thursday to “routinely update his constituents on how he’s doing” and be transparent about the work he’s doing while recovering. He said he expected McConnell to share an update on how he’s doing in the coming days.
“Truthfully, I think a little transparency on the front end here would have saved him a whole lot of grief,” Jennings told CNN’s “The Arena with Kasie Hunt.” “But that didn’t happen and they are where they are now.”
David Popp, a McConnell spokesman, said McConnell has continued to work during his absence.
“The Senator continues to meet with staff regarding Senate and Kentucky business, including discussions on defense appropriations, foreign policy, the farm bill, constituent services and constituent federal grant requests,” Popp said in a statement to The Washington Post. “As the Senator continues to improve in rehab, we will be sure to keep you updated.”
McConnell said July 12 that he did not break any bones when he fell and did not suffer a heart attack, a stroke, a hemorrhage or a concussion, but he has said little else about what happened to him.
Popp referred to McConnell’s earlier statement when asked when McConnell might return to the Senate or whether he planned to attend Tuesday’s funeral for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), his longtime colleague, at Washington National Cathedral.
McConnell said in his statement that “folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older.”
“Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct — I can’t help it,” he said.
McConnell spent 18 years as the Republican leader in the Senate before stepping down early last year. He remained in the chamber to serve the final two years of his term, which ends in January.
Rep. Andy Barr (Kentucky) won the Republican primary to succeed McConnell in May and is heavily favored to win his seat in November. The Senate is scheduled to be in session for only 10 more weeks during McConnell’s term as senators head home to campaign ahead of the midterm elections.
McConnell’s absence has narrowed Republicans’ edge in the Senate, giving them an effective 52-47 majority as long as he is absent.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Sen. John Barrasso (Wyoming), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said earlier this month that they had spoken with McConnell, but some other Republican senators have raised questions about McConnell’s absence.
Earlier this month, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) cast doubt on the legitimacy of the photo that McConnell shared of himself — only to dismiss his comments later, saying he was just repeating a rumor he had heard. (The Post reviewed the photo’s metadata and found it appeared it was taken July.)
“It’s not fun watching anybody age,” Johnson told reporters. “We’re all hoping Mitch recovers fully and comes back. I haven’t talked to him, so I have no knowledge.”
Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) wished McConnell a speedy recovery but also suggested he should disclose more about his condition.
“At a certain point you do have an obligation to your constituents and the country to tell them what’s going on,” Hawley told Fox News, saying he felt “totally in the dark” about McConnell’s status.
McConnell is hardly the first senator to be away for an extended stretch at a time while ailing or in recovery.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) was absent for two months in 2023 while seeking treatment for depression. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) missed votes for nearly three months that year while battling shingles and faced calls to resign. She returned to the Senate but died months later.
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) did not vote during his final eight months in office before he died in 2018. And Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) did not vote for nearly a year after suffering a stroke in 2012. He released videos of himself relearning how to walk before returning to the Senate and served out the rest of his term.
Lester Munson, Kirk’s chief of staff at the time, said Kirk was able to keep working even though he was not in the Capitol voting.
Kirk worked with Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), for instance, on an amendment to a defense policy bill to tough sanctions on Iran. Senators in both parties — includes Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Jon Tester (D-Montana) and Joe Manchin III (D-West Virginia) and McConnell — stepped up to help Kirk’s office carry on, Munson said.
“I think people kind of just assume — not really correctly — that if the senator’s in the hospital or something like that, that they can’t do their job,” Munson said. “That’s not entirely true. There’s obviously some things they can’t do … but a lot of other things continue to be carried on.”
Kirk did not have to contend with social media speculation about his health and other online pressures in the same way that McConnell has, Munson said.
The prediction market Polymarket, for instance, allows users to bet on whether McConnell will vote in the Senate by July 31. (The odds stood at 11 percent Friday evening.)
McConnell is also much better-known than Kirk or other senators who have had extended absences from the chamber. His decades of service should earn his some grace while he recovers, Munson said.
“As far as I’m concerned, this guy has given so much to the Senate over time and therefore so much to America, God bless him,” Munson said. “He’s got all the latitude in the world to deal with this problem.”
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Alexei Koseff contributed to this report.
