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US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell suffered a concussion after a fall at a hotel in Washington, DC, and remains hospitalized for “several days of observation and treatment,” a spokesman said Thursday.
The Kentucky senator, 81, was at a dinner Wednesday evening for the Senate Leadership Fund, a campaign committee aligned with him, when he tripped and fell. Dinner was at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, formerly the Trump International Hotel.
Spokesman David Popp said McConnell was being treated for a concussion and was “thankful to the medical professionals for his care and his friends for their warm wishes.”
McConnell’s office did not provide additional details about his condition or how long he will be out of the Senate.
US President Joe Biden said on Twitter that he wishes McConnell a “speedy recovery” and expects him to return to the Senate floor.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, told reporters earlier Thursday that he had not spoken to McConnell. He said he was at dinner and McConnell had said “as usual.”
“Apparently it happened in the evening,” said Thune, who had moved on to another reception at the hotel and did not see McConnell fall.
Concussions can be serious injuries and take time to recover from. Many professional sports associations have focused on the dangers of repetitive head injuries. Even one concussion can limit a person’s ability to recover.
In 2019, the Republican leader tripped and fell at his Kentucky home, breaking his shoulder. At that time, he underwent surgery. The Senate had just begun its summer break, and he was working at home for a few weeks while he recovered.
First elected in 1984, McConnell in January became the longest-serving Senate leader when the new Congress convened, breaking the previous record of 16 years. He served as majority leader for six of those years, then was replaced in 2021 by Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.
Survivor of childhood polio
The taciturn McConnell is often reluctant to discuss his personal life.
But at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he opened up about his childhood experience fighting polio. He described how his mother insisted that he remain a child and worked with him through a prescribed physical therapy regime. He has admitted some difficulties in adults climbing stairs.
Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday morning that he had called McConnell and spoken to his staff “to extend my prayers and hopes.”
“I join my colleagues in wishing Leader McConnell a speedy and full recovery,” he said.
.@SenSchumer at @LeaderMcConnell hospitalization: “First of all, my thoughts this morning are with my good friend, Leader Mitch McConnell, who is recovering in the hospital after yesterday’s accident.” pic.twitter.com/RoaNOINC3a
The Senate, whose average age is 65, has recently been without several members due to illness.
Sen. John Fetterman, 53, who suffered a stroke during the campaign last year, is expected to stay out for several weeks because he received treatment for clinical depression. And Dianne Feinstein, 89, has been sidelined from Congress after being treated for shingles.
The absence of two Democrats has been a challenge for Schumer, because of the narrow majority of 51-49 for the party in the Senate.
The Republican Party, as the minority party, had an easier time with intermittent absences. It’s unclear whether McConnell will be out on Thursday and if that will have an impact on the scheduled vote.
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