FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Chair Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S, May 19, 2026. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the former Senate Majority Leader, was hospitalized more than two weeks ago for reasons not made public. His office has not explained why or when he is expected to return to the Senate.
The 84-year-old seven-term lawmaker was hospitalized on June 14.
Local CBS affiliate WLKY reported that there are “still few details surrounding his condition or why he’s there.” The senator’s office would only offer that there were “no updates at this time.”
Last week, McConnell’s office in a statement said the senator was “still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery.”
“As of Wednesday of last week, there are no Senate votes, as the Senate is not in session to vote,” the spokesperson also said.
It remains unclear whether Senator McConnell is still hospitalized or if he has been released, and the reason for his hospitalization is still unknown to the public.
The Lexington Herald-Leader also reported that there are “few details” surrounding McConnell’s health condition, and a “spokesperson for McConnell’s office did not have any updated information regarding the Kentucky senator’s health to share as of Monday.”
McConnell has had “several health scares,” in recent years, “including freezes during public events. He also had three public falls in 2025, and he suffered a concussion in 2023 when he fell down steps in Washington D.C. In 2025, McConnell’s team said he still deals with ‘lingering effects’ from surviving polio as a child.”
The day after his hospitalization, Newsweek published a timeline of McConnell’s recent health issues, including that he “struggled to speak during a press conference on August 30, 2023, marking the second time in weeks he required assistance from staffers. The lawmaker froze for about 30 seconds at a lectern in Kentucky, but a member of his staff intervened.”
“All right, I’m sorry, y’all,” an aide told reporters. “We’re going to need a minute.”
On July 26, 2023, McConnell “froze while speaking to reporters and stared ahead for roughly 20 seconds before being escorted away by aides. He soon returned but dismissed questions that the incident had been linked to a concussion earlier in the year.”
McConnell is not running for reelection and is expected to retire at the end of his term.
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