WASHINGTON — The Senate will return Monday for a four-week work period expected to include votes on defense and other national security legislation, with one of the most influential voices on those issues — Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., — still absent with undisclosed health problems.
McConnell, an 84-year-old who spent half his life in Congress and chairs the Senate Rules Committee and a defense 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 almost 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 Tuesday.
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U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is taken into a weekly policy lunch May 19 on Capitol Hill in Washington.
McConnell's absence is likely to be felt most keenly on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where partisan disputes 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.
Funding is set to expire when fiscal year 2027 begins Oct. 1, and party leaders have begun to signal the need for a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution to keep federal agencies afloat.
McConnell has long been a target for attacks by President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress and on social media. The senator 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 scrutinize 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 struggled publicly with health issues in recent years, including freezing while speaking to reporters in 2023, and was hospitalized for eight days in February with flu-like symptoms.
U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Chair Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.
His latest absence drew comparisons with that of U.S. Rep. Thomas Kean, a New Jersey Republican, who was out for almost four months before disclosing that he was treated for depression.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, called on McConnell to provide an update, saying continued public speculation was unfair to both the senator and his constituents.
The lack of information fueled rumors 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 wrote on social media.
