Sen. McConnell Reveals Future Plans After ‘Freezing’ Incident

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 26, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The top Republican in the Senate is not planning to step down after an apparent health scare.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is going to remain in office until at least January 2025, a spokesperson said in a statement to news outlets.

“Leader McConnell appreciates the continued support of his colleagues, and plans to serve his full term in the job they overwhelmingly elected him to do,” the spokesperson said.

Republican senators reelected Mr. McConnell as the top Republican in the upper chamber in January 2023. The next election for the position is slated for when the next Congress starts, in January 2025.

Mr. McConnell, 81, won reelection to the Senate seat he holds in 2020. The term started in January 2021. Senate terms are six years.

A spokesperson for the senator did not respond when asked if Mr. McConnell could leave office when the next Congress starts.

Mr. McConnell was delivering remarks at a press conference on Capitol Hill on July 26 when he abruptly stopped speaking and moving. Colleagues initially waited for him to resume before moving closer and expressing concern. They ultimately helped him leave the briefing.

Mr. McConnell returned to the press conference several minutes later.

“I’m fine,” Mr. McConnell said when asked about what happened. When asked if he had anyone in mind to replace him when he could no longer serve as the Republican leader, he laughed and walked away.

McConnell’s office has been asked whether he saw a doctor after the incident, but has not responded.

One aide told reporters that Mr. McConnell “felt lightheaded” and when he returned, “was sharp.”

Mr. McConnell experienced a concussion and broken ribs when he fell in March, resulting in a hospital stay.

Mr. McConnell underwent inpatient physical therapy after being discharged from the hospital. He finished the therapy by the end of March, and returned to the Senate in April.

“I’m very happy to be back,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor in Washington. “There’s important business for Congress to tackle.”

“Suffice it to say, this wasn’t the first time that being hard-headed has served me very well,” he also said.

Another aging longtime congressional leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), stepped down from leadership in January but remains in Congress. Ms. Pelosi, 83, was the top Democrat for many years. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), 84, followed Ms. Pelosi’s lead, though Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) remained in the House Democrat leadership.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House speaker, is 58. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is 72. Mr. Schumer told reporters after Mr. McConnell’s incident that he always wishes Mr. McConnell well.

No members from either party have yet appeared to call for Mr. McConnell to step down.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a doctor, told Politico that he was concerned when Mr. McConnell suffered a concussion but not about the freezing incident.

“I was concerned when he fell and hit his head a number of months ago. He was hospitalized and he’s made a remarkable recovery, he’s doing a great job leading our conference,” he said. “He was able to answer every question that the press asked him today. And you may note, he answered more questions than he normally does.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told the outlet that he believes Mr. McConnell would step down as Republican leader at the right time.

“He’ll know when it’s time. He’s not going to put our caucus in harm’s way,” Mr. Tuberville said. “If he didn’t think he can do it, I’m sure he’ll make that decision.”

Another colleague, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), said Mr. McConnell “suffered a really bad fall, and that’s actually had an impact on him.”

“Age affects us all,” Mr. Johnson said. “You can’t deny that reality.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) walks one day after freezing during a press conference, on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 27, 2023. Saul Loeb/Getty Images

Easily Won Reelection

Mr. McConnell has been in office since 1984, after serving in the Ford administration as a deputy assistant attorney general.

The Republican has ascended the ranks of his party since then, entering GOP leadership and eventually taking the position of top Republican senator in late 2006.

Mr. McConnell has spearheaded efforts to cut taxes, confirm judges who adhere to the U.S. Constitution, and loosen campaign funding rules.

Mr. McConnell won another term as the Republican leader after facing down a challenge from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). He has strong allies in the Republican caucus, though some senators have become more comfortable offering criticism of him in recent years.

Mr. McConnell emerged from a contested GOP primary race in 2020 with 82 percent of the vote and defeated Amy McGrath, a U.S. Marine veteran who earned the Democrat nomination, in the general election.

Mr. McConnell received 1.2 million votes to Ms. McGrath’s 816,257 votes.

“I do wish Mitch McConnell well,” Ms. McGrath said in a brief statement this week. “We are all human.”