Senate GOP leaders said Tuesday that they have spoken with Sen. Mitch McConnell and vouched for his competency, countering widespread speculation about the extent of the Kentucky Republican’s failing health.
His office has provided scant detail about what sent the 84-year-old lawmaker to the hospital on June 14 — an incident that has put the former GOP Senate leader’s health into the limelight.
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the South Dakota Republican had a “lengthy and substantive conversation” with Mr. McConnell on the phone Monday.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the second-ranking Republican in the upper chamber, had a 20-minute conversation Tuesday afternoon with Mr. McConnell.
“They caught up about the latest news impacting Senate races, the Graham Platner scandal and the recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits,” Kate Noyes, spokeswoman for Mr. Barrasso, said in a statement. “They also discussed the Senate’s July work period, including the need to pass the NDAA and confirm President Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence. Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”
Political commentator Scott Jennings said he spoke with the seven-term senator Tuesday morning, adding that he is “still recovering in the hospital.”
“We talked for just shy of 20 minutes … about IRAN, UKRAINE, the unfolding situation in MAINE, my visit to the TR Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history. I told him we want to see him back at work as soon as possible,” Mr. Jennings said on social media.
Mr. McConnell’s office announced last month that he was admitted to the hospital, without clarifying what prompted it. Emergency dispatch audio released last week indicated that someone was unconscious in his home in Washington, suffered “cardiac arrest” and needed CPR.
Mr. Thune said on June 15 that he spoke with Mr. McConnell, who “sounded good.”
“He wants to be back, but I’ll defer to his staff on when,” Mr. Thune said at the time, adding that he was “hopeful” that his colleague would be back on Capitol Hill later that week.
The bombshell report on the emergency dispatch audio prompted questions about when the lawmaker will return to the Senate or whether he will return at all.
The former GOP leader’s staff has offered a limited view of his health status, adding in a Tuesday statement that he “continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” his office added.
This is his second hospitalization of the year after a February flu-like illness.
Mr. McConnell, among the oldest current senators, opted out of running for reelection, which would have put him at 90 years old by the end of an eighth term.
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