A right-wing influencer posted video of the Washington D.C. home of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) being surrounded by police while the former Senate Majority Leader continues to be a No Show in the Senate.
"Now: Capitol Police encircle Mitch McConnell’s house while he’s still nowhere to be found despite the senate convening over an hour ago," conservative journalist Nick Sortor posted on x on Monday. "The fact our senators have so much contempt for us that we’re not even allowed to know if they’re alive is insane. 95 days since he’s been seen."
McConnell's absence, which began when he was hospitalized in June, has been controversial as it has held up Senate business and left Kentucky with only one effective legislator in the top lawmaking chamber. Additionally, a recent report revealed that McConnell and his staff continued to earn substantial salaries despite McConnell doing no work during that period and remaining enigmatic about his health.
"McConnell, the former Senate majority leader who earns an annual salary of $174,000, made $43,500 in taxpayer-funded paychecks during his 92-day absence from the halls of Congress," The Daily Beast wrote on Monday. "The 84-year-old senator was taken to the hospital from his Washington D.C. home on June 14 and has not been seen in public since." What's more, his staff has also been raking it in during his time away. According to the Beast, "The Kentucky senator’s six highest-paid staffers earned a combined $318,688 pre-tax in the past 92 days that he has been missing from Capitol Hill. His Senate office is led by his camera-shy chief of staff, Terry Carmack, who earns $226,000 annually. The senator’s communications director, Stephanie Penn, earns about $214,000 per year, as she has presided over this PR disaster. When accounting for the rest of McConnell’s office, which has about 40 staffers including low-level employees, the Daily Beast calculated that his entire staff received around $893,872 pre-tax in the last 92 days that their boss has been missing."
CNN has elaborated on McConnell's history of health issues.
"McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, has faced a series of health issues in recent years, including multiple falls," CNN reported on Sunday. "In 2023, he froze mid-sentence during a news conference on Capitol Hill ... Along with his own statement, McConnell included a note from the attending physician of Congress, who described the injuries after the fall at his Washington, DC, home as 'minor.' The physician added that 'McConnell has experienced several falls throughout the year that have been attributed to his post-polio condition.'"
