Mitch McConnell leaves rehab to continue recovery at home
Sen. Mitch McConnell says he has left rehabilitation for home therapy and Senate work, with no date set for his return to Washington.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s rehab recovery has moved home. The Kentucky Republican said Aug. 6 that he had been discharged from a rehabilitation center and would continue recovering away from Washington.
In a written statement, McConnell said his doctors had advised an intensive physical-therapy program during the Senate’s state work period. He also said he would stay in touch with his staff and Senate colleagues on official business.
The 84-year-old did not say when he expects to return to the Capitol or resume voting in person. NBC News reported that McConnell had not been seen or heard publicly since he was hospitalized in mid-June.
When will Mitch McConnell return to the Senate?
No date was included in McConnell’s latest statement. The Senate was due back in mid-September after its August work period, Roll Call reported, but his release from rehabilitation does not indicate that he is cleared to return to Washington or cast floor votes.
McConnell was hospitalized June 14 after a fall, then developed pneumonia, according to his earlier statement and reporting by NBC News and Kentucky Public Radio. In a July 12 update, he said he had briefly lost consciousness in the fall and said his doctors found no broken bones, concussion, heart attack or stroke. He also described the pneumonia as mild.
His office had said he was receiving rehabilitation care, while the congressional Office of the Attending Physician said in late July that doctors were seeing him daily at the facility, CNBC reported.
How has McConnell’s absence affected Senate work?
The effects are already visible in committee work. McConnell participated by proxy in an Agriculture Committee markup on Aug. 6, according to Roll Call, but a proxy vote could not count toward the physically present quorum needed to send a measure to the full Senate. The bill under consideration therefore did not advance at that meeting.
McConnell’s announcement was a written update, not a public appearance. He thanked doctors, nurses, therapists and hospital staff, as well as friends, colleagues and Kentuckians who had sent support.
The senator is not seeking reelection and his term ends in January, NBC News reported. For now, his statement sets out a narrower next step: therapy at home and remote engagement with Senate business, while the timing of an in-person return remains unsettled.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.