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Mitch McConnell returns to Senate duties after nearly three months away
The Kentucky Republican cast his first vote after a lengthy recovery from a June fall. His return comes at a key moment for Senate Republicans in a closely divided chamber.
Mitch McConnell returned to the U.S. Senate floor on Monday and cast his first vote in nearly three months after a long absence caused by a fall in mid-June.
According to Roll Call, the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican was hospitalized on June 14 after the accident and a subsequent bout of pneumonia. He then spent weeks in the hospital and at a rehabilitation center, followed by additional recovery time at home.
NPR Politics reported that McConnell later said he had been briefly unconscious after the fall.
In a statement cited by Roll Call, McConnell said his recovery had been long and difficult and that lingering effects from childhood polio had made the process harder. He also said he is not fully recovered but told Republican leader John Thune that he would try to be present for difficult votes while continuing physical therapy on doctors’ advice.
Roll Call said his return is significant for Senate Republicans as they try to advance major priorities during the current work period, including the farm bill. In August, McConnell voted by proxy in the Senate Agriculture Committee, a step that does not count toward moving the bill to the full Senate, and his absence had effectively stalled it.
The importance of his vote was visible Monday night, when he helped invoke cloture on the nomination of Matthew Byrne to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Ohio in a 47-46 vote, amid other absences in the chamber, Roll Call reported.
Speaking to reporters, McConnell said it was time to get back to work and finish the job for this Congress. He also pointed to his interest in the farm bill and in supporting NATO and countries fighting Russia.
Roll Call noted that McConnell is retiring at the end of this year after more than 40 years in the Senate. He was first elected in 1984 and led Senate Republicans from 2007 until John Thune of South Dakota took over that role last year.
In recent years, McConnell has suffered several falls and also faced questions about his fitness to continue serving after a series of freezing episodes in 2023, according to Roll Call.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
