Mitch McConnell returning to Senate after head, rib injury
Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on April 17, 2023
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is returning to Congress on Monday, nearly six weeks after suffering a concussion and a fractured rib from a fall at a Washington hotel.
The Kentucky senator, who’s 81, has been recovering at home upon release from a rehabilitation facility on March 25, following a five-day stay in the hospital after falling at the Waldorf Astoria while attending a private dinner on March 8.
“I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday,” McConnell said in a Tweet on Thursday. “We’ve got important business to tackle and big fights to win for Kentuckians and the American people.”
McConnell will also likely field questions about his political future at a time when another senior senator, Dianne Feinstein of California, remains at home recovering from shingles.
Feinstein’s absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee is something Democrats are attempting to temporarily backfill in order to push forward some of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations despite Republican opposition.
McConnell has made clear he has no intention to leave his role.
“I’m not going anywhere,” McConnell said in November, after he faced a leadership challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
McConnell’s return will also come with another colleague’s long-awaited return following a medical pause: Freshman Sen. John Fetterman, who two months ago checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression on Feb. 16.
The Pennsylvania senator is expected to return at some point this week, according to his staff.
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