Mitch McConnell

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Bipartisan Senator Bloc Squeezes Trump on Russia Move

Lawmakers say loosened penalties on diesel exports aid Russia without lowering fuel costs in US

(Newser) - A dozen senators are telling President Trump to hit the brakes on his latest Russia move. In a Tuesday letter , six Republicans and six Democrats urged him to undo his decision to relax sanctions on Russian diesel exports, arguing it will barely touch Americans' fuel costs while giving Vladimir Putin...

Mitch McConnell Returns to Senate After 3-Month Absence

Senator fell at home on June 14

(Newser) - Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate on Monday afternoon and said in a statement that he plans to cast a vote for the first time since June 14, when he was hospitalized after falling in his home. "My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process,...

Senate GOP Expects Return of McConnell Next Week

Mitch McConnell's months-long health absence raised questions about Senate transparency

(Newser) - Senate Republicans are quietly setting the stage for Mitch McConnell's reappearance at the Capitol as early as next week. GOP leadership sources tell Punchbowl that they expect the Kentucky senator, absent since mid-June, to rejoin the chamber for its September work stretch, though his office is not confirming a...

Senator Tries to Vote for McConnell

Proxy vote doesn't count, leaving farm bill in committee

(Newser) - A Senate panel nearly recorded the first vote from Sen. Mitch McConnell in weeks, but the effort was shut down by those pesky Agriculture Committee rules. Hours after McConnell's office announced Thursday that the 84-year-old Republican had been discharged from a rehabilitation hospital and would continue intensive physical therapy...

Murkowski Puts Blanche Confirmation in Jeopardy

She is second GOP senator to oppose AG nominee, who can't afford another

(Newser) - Todd Blanche's path to becoming attorney general just got a lot rockier. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Friday she will vote no on Blanche, making her the second Republican to break with the party after Sen. Susan Collins, reports Axios . Blanche cannot afford to lose any more Republican votes, and...

Mitch McConnell Says He's Home Again
Mitch McConnell Is Going Home
Aug 6, 2026 3:10 PM CDT

Mitch McConnell Is Going Home

He says he's out of the rehab center, but doesn't offer timeline for Senate return

(Newser) - Sen. Mitch McConnell is home again after a long hospital stay and rehab stint caused by a June fall. The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican said Thursday he's been released from a rehabilitation facility and will keep working remotely, but offered no date for a return to the Senate, which is...

Kentucky Gov to McConnell: 'Verbally Address' Us, or Step Aside

Andy Beshear sends a sharply worded letter to state's top Republican over health concerns

(Newser) - Kentucky's Democratic governor is publicly pressing the state's most powerful Republican to prove he's still up to the job—or step aside. In a sharply worded letter, Gov. Andy Beshear urged Sen. Mitch McConnell to speak directly to Kentuckians and show he is capable of serving, or...

McConnell Says He Has to Skip Fancy Farm Picnic

Senator says he hasn't been medically cleared to leave rehab facility after fall, hospitalization

(Newser) - Sen. Mitch McConnell says he's working, just not from the Capitol yet. In a statement released by his office, the Kentucky Republican said he remains in a rehab facility after a June 14 fall at his home and hasn't been medically cleared to resume in-person duties, meaning he'...

Republicans Add to Calls for McConnell to Give Updates

Senator has been out of public view for six weeks

(Newser) - Six weeks after a fall sent him to a hospital and away from Capitol Hill, Sen. Mitch McConnell is still out—and even his supporters are urging him to inform the public about his condition. The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican has said he didn't break bones or suffer a cardiac...

Beshear Says Officials Called Suggesting McConnell Had Died

Kentucky governor cites lack of updates, rumors in pressing for more details from GOP senator

(Newser) - Kentucky's governor is now saying more about the rumor mill surrounding Mitch McConnell's health. In a Wednesday interview with Katie Couric, Gov. Andy Beshear said that before McConnell's Sunday health update, he received two calls from officials at unnamed nonstate agencies "suggesting he's passed,"...

Late-Night Hosts Roast Mitch McConnell

Stewart, Fallon, Kimmel mock recuperating senator over hospital image

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell may be in the hospital, but he's not off limits to late-night hosts. In fact, they've been piling on the Kentucky senator after he released an image of himself from his hospital bed, with wife Elaine Chao, after weeks of silence about his recuperation. (McConnell, 84,...

After Graham's Death, the Conspiracy Theories Roll

Online misinformation machine explodes after Republican senator's death

(Newser) - Conspiracy chatter moved almost as fast as the tributes. Within hours of Sen. Lindsey Graham's sudden death, social media feeds filled with claims he'd been poisoned, targeted by foreign enemies, or killed overseas—theories advanced without evidence but amplified by algorithms and partisan influencers, reports the Washington Post...

McConnell Breaks His Silence
Mitch McConnell Breaks Silence
Jul 13, 2026 12:30 AM CDT

Mitch McConnell Breaks Silence

McConnell says after fall he suffered mild pneumonia, remains in rehabilitation care

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell is speaking up about his health after a month of near-total silence that fueled speculation about the 84-year-old senator's condition, the Washington Post reports. In a Sunday statement, the Kentucky Republican said he was briefly knocked out by a fall at home on June 14, was hospitalized,...

As Rumors Keep Swirling on McConnell, Chao Returns to US

Rep for senator's wife says China trip was preplanned, his condition didn't warrant her return

(Newser) - Elaine Chao is back in the US after a China trip that collided with her husband Sen. Mitch McConnell's June 14 hospitalization —and lit up the internet with speculation. Chao's office said the visit had been scheduled well in advance and focused on her family's philanthropic...

Fake Post About McConnell Fools CNN

Network apologizes after showing message concerning a chat with hospitalized senator

(Newser) - CNN is acknowledging it was duped. On Thursday's CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish apologized after the network aired a quote about hospitalized Sen. Mitch McConnell that came from a fake Republican congressman, Mediaite reports. The network had displayed a graphic of supposed messages from GOP lawmakers claiming to...

Governor Formally Requests Update on McConnell's Health

Beshear urges transparency after reports of cardiac arrest

(Newser) - Kentucky's Democratic governor wants more than vague assurances about the health of the state's most powerful Republican. Andy Beshear on Wednesday formally asked Sen. Mitch McConnell's office to publicly update constituents on the 84-year-old's condition following his June 14 hospitalization, the Hill reports. "Over the...

GOP Senators Say They Had Long Talks With McConnell

Leaders describe lengthy calls as speculation over hospitalized senator's health grows

(Newser) - Republican senators are citing phone calls to rebut mounting questions about Sen. Mitch McConnell's health. Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso say both men held extended calls with the hospitalized Kentucky senator this week, describing the conversations as detailed and wide-ranging, Politico reports....

New Focus in DC: Mystery About McConnell's Health
A Big Mystery in DC:
Mitch McConnell's Health
the rundown
Jul 7, 2026 8:35 AM CDT

A Big Mystery in DC: Mitch McConnell's Health

Senator, 84, has been hospitalized for weeks, and his staff isn't saying much

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized for three weeks , and his staff still won't say why. The lack of transparency has led to all kinds of speculation about the 84-year-old Kentucky senator and his prospects for returning to the chamber. What we know:
  • Hospitalization: McConnell was admitted on June 14, and
...

McConnell Still in Hospital After Possible Heart Attack

Senator, 84, suffered some kind of medical scare nearly three weeks ago

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized nearly three weeks after suffering a possible heart attack at his home in Kentucky. The office of the 84-year-old senator and former Republican majority leader says he "continues his recovery in the hospital" and "continues to improve" but did not provide specifics on exactly...

Mitch McConnell Hospitalized
Mitch McConnell Hospitalized
Jun 15, 2026 1:00 AM CDT

Mitch McConnell Hospitalized

Office declines to disclose cause as 84-year-old receives treatment

(Newser) - Sen. Mitch McConnell is back in the hospital, but his office isn't saying why, Politico reports. A brief Sunday statement from spokesperson David Popp said only that the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican "was admitted to the hospital this morning" and is "receiving excellent care," with no details...

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