Senate Republican Leader McConnell to Return to Capitol After 5-Week Absence

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks during a news conference following a closed-door lunch meeting with Senate Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 31, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced on April 13 that he will return to the Capitol on April 17 after suffering a concussion at a private dinner in early March.

McConnell said in a social media post that he would be present when the Senate returned from its two-week April recess.

“I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday. We’ve got important business to tackle and big fights to win for Kentuckians and the American people,” he said.

On March 8, 81-year-old McConnell tripped and fell at a private dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in downtown Washington, sustaining a concussion. He was transported by ambulance to an undisclosed hospital, where he rested and was observed for several days.

The Senate party leader was transferred from the hospital on March 13 to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, his communications director David Popp said in a statement.

“I want to sincerely thank everyone for all the kind wishes,” McConnell said on April 13 in his first personally issued statement since he fell. “I’m happy to say I finished inpatient physical therapy earlier today and I’m glad to be home.

“I’m going to follow the advice of my physical therapists and spend the next few days working for Kentuckians and the Republican Conference from home,” he added.

“I’m in frequent touch with my Senate colleagues and my staff. I look forward to returning in person to the Senate soon.”

The senator recently became the Senate’s longest-serving GOP leader and this was not the first time he has been injured in a fall. In 2019, he fractured his shoulder after falling on the outdoor patio of his Louisville, Kentucky, residence.

Several other senators have also struggled with health issues. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), age 89, was discharged from the hospital on March 7 after treatment for shingles.

She tweeted, “I continue to receive treatment and look forward to returning to the Senate as soon as feasible.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), 53, left hospital on March 31 after getting treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

He had been admitted there on Feb. 15, just a few days after getting treatment for lightheadedness at George Washington University Hospital.