Senator Mitch McConnell’s health absence a mystery with US Senate poised to return

WASHINGTON - The US Senate returns on July 13 for a four-week work period expected to include votes on defence and other national security legislation, with one of the most influential voices on those issues – Republican Senator Mitch McConnell – still absent with undisclosed health problems.

McConnell, an 84-year-old who has spent half his life in Congress and chairs the Senate Rules Committee and a defence appropriations panel, has been absent since mid-June, when he was taken from his home to a hospital in the Washington area for reasons his office has kept private for nearly a month.

The Senate has been on a July 4 break since June 24.

“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital. The senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session,” his office said in a statement on July 7.

McConnell’s absence is likely to be felt most keenly on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where partisan disputes have stalled efforts to reach agreement on annual funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies.

Republicans hold a one-seat, 15-14 majority on the panel.

Current funding is set to expire when fiscal year 2027 begins on Oct 1, and party leaders have begun to signal the need for a stop gap measure known as a continuing resolution to keep federal agencies afloat.

A Kentucky Republican, McConnell has long been a target for attacks by President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress and on social media.

The senator has opposed Trump’s tariff policies and some of his Cabinet picks along with the president’s efforts to eliminate the Senate filibuster and pass the voter ID Bill known as the SAVE America Act.

Republicans also hope to revive a lapsed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as lawmakers scrutinise Trump’s decision to appoint Bill Pulte, an ally with no intelligence background, as acting director of national intelligence.

The longest-serving party leader in Senate history, McConnell has struggled publicly with health issues in recent years, including freezing while speaking to reporters in 2023, and was hospitalised for eight days in February with flu-like symptoms.

His latest absence has drawn comparisons with that of US representative Thomas Kean, a New Jersey Republican, who was out for nearly four months before disclosing that he had been treated for depression.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has called on McConnell to provide an update, saying continued public speculation was unfair to both the senator and his constituents.

The lack of information has fuelled rumours online about McConnell’s condition, prompting criticism from some conservatives, including commentator Mark Levin, who said the senator should not be ridiculed.

“I was highly critical of Mitch McConnell over the years. But I hope he is getting better and hanging in there. I wish him well as he moves into retirement,” Levin posted on X. REUTERS