McConnell says he will cast his first Senate vote Monday after June hospitalization

Since being hospitalized more than 90 days ago, Kentucky U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell says he plans to return to the Senate Monday evening. 

McConnell, 84, was hospitalized in June and said on July 12 he would enter a rehabilitation center after a fall at home. In a statement late Monday, the Republican said after the Senate reconvened following a congressional recess he would be on the floor. 

“Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues,” McConnell said. “My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier. I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me.”

A Spectrum TV reporter in Washington showed a photo on X of McConnell getting into a car at 5:55 p.m. A CNN reporter shared a photo of McConnell at the Capitol in a wheelchair minutes later.

When his absence began, speculation about McConnell’s vitality ran rampant online. His office shared photos of him with his wife, former Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. He has not made any video or public appearances since June. 

McConnell said in his statement he and his wife “are very grateful for all the continued well wishes from our fellow Kentuckians, and I’m glad to get back to more of business as usual on their behalf this month.”

The Senate Agriculture Committee has a meeting scheduled on Wednesday to consider the farm bill again. In August, McConnell attempted to cast tie-breaking votes on the bill in a committee meeting by proxy, but Senate rules prevented it and delayed the bill through the Congressional recess. 

Some Republicans speculated McConnell would return after the recess, including Senate Republican Leader John Thune, of South Dakota. He said in an early September TV station interview he would “love to get him back” for votes. Before that, at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr echoed Thune’s comments on McConnell’s rumored return and U.S. Rep. James Comer said McConnell’s staffers “hope he’s on the Senate floor very soon.” 

McConnell has a little over three months left in office as he is not seeking reelection. Barr and Democratic former state Rep. Charles Booker will face off in the general election in November for the seat.

Booker had criticized McConnell earlier Monday afternoon statement, saying the senator “failed to show up for Kentucky and fulfill the duties he was elected to carry out.” 

Kentucky’s top Democrat, Gov. Andy Beshear called on McConnell to “provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign” in a late July letter. 

Beshear said in a press conference that if McConnell had not returned Monday, he owed “an explanation to the American people, to the people of Kentucky.”

“You can’t not show up for work and not call and talk to your boss. And his boss is the people of Kentucky,” Beshear said. “But it also shows how broken this Republican-led Senate is. They don’t think they have a boss. They don’t think they answer to anybody, and I think in this set of elections, the American people have to remind them that they do.”