Mitch McConnell has been absent from Capitol Hill for three months. It’s still unclear when he’ll return

From US Senator Mitch McConnell

The Senate is set to return Monday after a five-week recess, and it is still unclear if GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell will end his three-month absence from the Capitol due to health issues.

McConnell was hospitalized in June, which his office later said was due to a fall. In August, the senator announced that he would continue his recovery at home after spending time at a rehabilitation center after his hospitalization.

As the Senate’s recess comes to a close, the retiring senator has not announced if he will join his colleagues at the Capitol next week.

In response to multiple questions from CNN on when McConnell will return to Capitol Hill, his office has not provided a definitive date.

House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky sparked speculation that McConnell might soon be back when he said last week that McConnell’s staff had told him they are hoping the senator will return when the Senate comes back into session.

Although he said he has not spoken to McConnell directly, Comer said he communicates regularly with the senator’s staff as their offices often work together on matters for their state.

Asked if McConnell is expected to be back at that time, Comer said, “I expect that. I sure hope so.”

“I have not talked to Leader McConnell. I’ve talked to his staff, many of whom are from my district originally. And they have all said it’s their goal for Senator McConnell to be here when the Senate comes in,” Comer said.

When CNN reached out to McConnell’s office about Comer’s comments last week, McConnell spokesperson Stephanie Penn said there are “no scheduling announcements at this time.”

McConnell was hospitalized on June 14, but his office did not disclose the reason for the hospitalization at the time. He was taken from his home in Capitol Hill by ambulance .

In July, after weeks of speculation and questions over his health status, McConnell announced that a fall had landed him in the hospital. He said that he was “briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital” and “while receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.”

In his statement, McConnell indirectly addressed why it took so long to share what sent him to the hospital.

“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct — I can’t help it,” he said.

The senator then moved to a rehabilitation center to continue regaining his strength and later announced in early August that he was discharged and would continue to recover at home.

“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” he said in a statement at the time.

Finn Gomez/Getty Images

McConnell’s prolonged absence from Capitol Hill has sparked a nationwide conversation over what level of transparency lawmakers owe their constituents.

The current system allows lawmakers to handle attendance at their own discretion with no enforcement mechanism. Members must attempt to strike a balance between dealing with private health matters and the obligations that come with being a public figure.

Project on Government Oversight Director of Advocacy Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette told CNN, “I think it’s incumbent upon us to allow everybody, including public officials some degree of privacy, specifically around health matters, but one thing that you definitely sign up for when you make the choice to run for office and then become an elected official is that the amount of your life that remains entirely and exclusively private is reduced.”

Hedtler-Gaudette said, “You have many duties when you’re an elected official, a member of Congress, but one of the top-most is to show up and in showing up you are providing representation for your constituents” he said, pointing out that each state has two senators. “Right now, the commonwealth of Kentucky only has half of the representation it is due. That is a fundamental problem.”

Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters/File

McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, has faced a series of health issues in recent years, including multiple falls. In 2023, he froze mid-sentence during a news conference on Capitol Hill.

Providing more detail about the fall that landed him in the hospital in June, McConnell said in a July statement, “my doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages.”

He added, “You’re right to expect your representatives to work hard for you. And part of my decision to retire at the end of my term this coming January was being honest about the demands of Senate work. But I still have unfinished business to complete on your behalf, and I have every intention of finishing the job you elected me to do.”

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.”

McConnell also provided a photo at the time showing him smiling next to his wife, Elaine Chao. He appeared to have a copy of that Sunday’s Washington Post sports section on his lap.

McConnell is not the only lawmaker to be absent from Capitol Hill for a prolonged period of time.

Republican Rep. Tom Kean of New Jersey said in June that he experienced severe depression that required a long-term stay in the hospital, keeping him away from Washington more than 100 days.

In both instances, GOP leadership deferred to the lawmakers to handle their own absences and messaging around it while also encouraging transparency.

“I mean, I think that there’s some obviously kind of crazy speculation online, but in the end, I think it’s important as much as possible for him and his team to, you know – and we’ve been trusting them to do that,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in July after having recently spoke with McConnell.

Thune continued, “But you know, I think that anything he can do to just keep these, you know, crazy conspiracy theories off of the, off the grid, so to speak, I think would be helpful.”

But some of McConnell’s colleagues thought the Kentucky Republican should have shared more information sooner to prevent the conspiracy theories that have circulated online.

“I think we need some transparency. I wish Senator McConnell and his team had done that earlier. I think it would have resolved a lot of questions,” GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said on July 13.

来自美国参议员米奇·麦康奈尔

参议院在休会五周后将于周一复会，但共和党参议员米奇·麦康奈尔是否会结束因健康问题而离开国会大厦三个月的行程，目前仍不明朗。

麦康奈尔6月份入院治疗，其办公室后来称是由于摔倒所致。8月份，这位参议员宣布，在住院治疗后前往康复中心进行一段时间的康复后，他将回家继续休养。

随着参议院休会期的结束，这位即将退休的参议员尚未宣布他是否会在下周与同事们一起前往国会大厦。

针对 CNN 多次询问麦康奈尔何时返回国会山，他的办公室尚未给出确切日期。

肯塔基州众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科默上周表示，麦康奈尔的幕僚告诉他，他们希望这位参议员能在参议院复会时回归，这引发了人们对麦康奈尔可能很快回归的猜测。

科默表示，虽然他没有直接与麦康奈尔交谈过，但他经常与这位参议员的幕僚沟通，因为他们的办公室经常在州事务上合作。

当被问及麦康奈尔届时是否会回归时，科默说：“我预计他会回来。我当然希望如此。”

科默说：“我没有和麦康奈尔议长谈过。我和他的幕僚谈过，他们当中许多人原本都来自我的选区。他们都表示，他们的目标是让麦康奈尔参议员在参议院开会时留在这里。”

上周，当 CNN 就科默的言论联系麦康奈尔办公室时，麦康奈尔的发言人斯蒂芬妮·佩恩表示“目前没有任何日程安排公告”。

麦康奈尔于6月14日入院治疗，但他的办公室当时并未透露入院原因。他被救护车从位于国会山的家中送往医院。

7月，在外界对其健康状况进行了数周的猜测和询问后，麦康奈尔宣布他因摔倒入院。他说他“短暂失去意识后被送往医院”，并且“在过去几周接受良好治疗的同时，我也患上了轻微的肺炎”。

麦康奈尔在声明中间接解释了为什么过了这么久才公布他入院的原因。

“你们都知道，我们这代人往往不愿袒露随着年龄增长而来的脆弱一面。即使在公众视野中，我也有同样的本能——我控制不住自己，”他说。

随后，这位参议员前往康复中心继续恢复体力，并在 8 月初宣布出院，将在家里继续康复。

“根据医生的建议，我将在州政府工作期间在家进行高强度的物理治疗，并将继续与我的工作人员和同事一起处理重要的参议院事务，”他当时在一份声明中说。

Finn Gomez/Getty Images

麦康奈尔长期缺席国会山，引发了全国范围内关于立法者应该对选民保持何种程度透明度的讨论。

现行制度允许议员自行决定是否出席，且缺乏强制执行机制。议员们必须努力在处理个人健康问题和履行公众人物职责之间寻求平衡。

政府监督项目倡导主任迪伦·赫德勒-高德特告诉 CNN：“我认为我们有责任允许每个人，包括公职人员，享有一定程度的隐私，尤其是在健康问题上。但是，当你选择竞选公职并成为民选官员时，你肯定要承担的一点是，你生活中完全和专属的隐私空间将会减少。”

赫德勒-高德特说：“作为一名民选官员，一名国会议员，你肩负着许多职责，但最重要的职责之一就是履行职责，履行职责就是代表你的选民。”他指出，每个州都有两名参议员。“目前，肯塔基州只拥有其应得代表人数的一半。这是一个根本性的问题。”

伊丽莎白·弗兰茨/路透社/档案照片

麦康奈尔幼年时曾患小儿麻痹症，近年来健康状况不佳，多次跌倒。2023年，他在国会山举行的新闻发布会上，话说到一半突然停了下来。

麦康奈尔在7月份的一份声明中，就6月份导致他入院的那次摔倒事件提供了更多细节：“我的医生已经证实，我没有骨折，也没有脑震荡。我没有心脏病发作，也没有中风。我没有任何肿瘤或出血。”

他补充道：“你们理应期望你们的代表们努力为你们服务。我决定在今年一月任期结束时退休，部分原因就是想坦诚面对参议院工作的繁重。但我还有未竟的事业要代表你们完成，我一定会尽全力完成你们选举我来承担的工作。”

除了自己的声明外，麦康奈尔还附上了国会主治医生的一份说明。医生在说明中称，麦康奈尔在华盛顿特区的家中摔倒后所受的伤“较轻”。医生还补充说，“麦康奈尔今年曾多次摔倒，这都归因于他的小儿麻痹症后遗症。”

麦康奈尔当时还提供了一张照片，照片中他面带微笑地站在妻子赵小兰身旁。他腿上似乎放着一份当日的《华盛顿邮报》体育版。

麦康奈尔并不是唯一一位长时间缺席国会山的议员。

新泽西州共和党众议员汤姆·基恩 (Tom Kean) 在 6 月份表示，他患有严重的抑郁症，需要长期住院治疗，这使他离开华盛顿超过 100 天。

在这两起事件中，共和党领导层都让议员们自行处理缺席事宜和相关宣传，同时鼓励保持透明。

“我的意思是，我认为网上显然有一些疯狂的猜测，但最终，我认为对他和他的团队来说，尽可能地做到这一点非常重要——你知道——而且我们一直相信他们会做到这一点，”参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩在7月份与麦康奈尔交谈后说道。

图恩继续说道：“但是你知道，我认为他能做的任何事，只要能让这些疯狂的阴谋论不被曝光，不被主流社会所接受，都会有所帮助。”

但麦康奈尔的一些同事认为，这位肯塔基州共和党人应该更早地分享更多信息，以防止阴谋论在网上流传。

“我认为我们需要一些透明度。我希望麦康奈尔参议员和他的团队早点这样做。我认为这可以解决很多问题，”德克萨斯州共和党参议员约翰·科宁7月13日表示。