WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell made a dramatic return to the Senate on Monday after a three-month absence due to health issues.
The Republican senator from Kentucky, 84, was hospitalized on June 14 after a fall at home and then treated for pneumonia. He spent two months being hospitalized before finishing his recovery at home.
He was spotted leaving his Washington home in a wheelchair and waving to cameras.
“Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues,” McConnell wrote on X.
Despite McConnell’s office releasing two photos of the senator and other lawmakers saying they spoke to him on the phone, McConnell’s prolonged absence sparked “Weekend at Bernie” style conspiracy theories.
And Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has repeatedly questioned if McConnell is fit to serve.
“If he is not there on Monday, he has an explanation. He owes an explanation to the American people, to the people of Kentucky. You can’t not show up for work and not call and talk to your boss. And his boss is the people of Kentucky,” Beshear said last week.
McConnell has missed 60 recorded votes, including ones on judicial confirmations, housing policy, Medicare regulations, and immigration procedures, along with multiple votes related to the war in Iran.
He gave no interviews and made no public appearances during his recovery time.
“After two years, two decades, actually, of dodging your questions, I wasn’t sure how many of you would be here today,” McConnell quipped to the press corps at the Capitol on Monday, per The Hill.
“So I’m glad to see you. Time to get back to work, finish the job of this Congress,” he added.
McConnell led Senate Republicans for almost 20 years before stepping down last year and being replaced by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)
He was first elected to the Senate in 1985 and is the 10th longest-serving senator in American history. McConnell is not seeking reelection. His current term ends in January.
He is not the first senator to be away from the chamber for months at a time for health reasons.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was absent for two months in 2023 during treatment for depression. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) did not vote during his final eight months in office before his death in 2018.
