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RECUPERATION: McConnell released from rehab, but when will he return to Senate?

RECUPERATION: McConnell released from rehab, but when will he return to Senate?

RECUPERATION: McConnell released from rehab, but when will he return to Senate?

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has officially been released from rehab after suffering a concussion from a fall earlier in the month.

The 81-year-old was hospitalized at George Washington University for less than a week before being transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility to continue his recovery.

“I’m glad to be home,” Sen. McConnell said in a statement. “I want to sincerely thank everyone for the kind wishes.”

There’s no confirmation on when the nation’s longest-serving Republican senator will return to the office, but he’s expected to work from home in the meantime.

The Senate reconvenes next week.

McConnell reportedly tripped at a fundraising dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington D.C.

Medical professionals discovered the lifelong GOP lawmaker also had a “minor rib fracture.”

As the Republican party splits into factions — pitting hardline conservatives like McConnell and his longtime colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), against a newer rabid fringe America First contingent — some have questioned if it may be time for the Senate Minority Leader to retire.

Prior to the 2022 midterms, it was rumored that the senator from Kentucky hinted at possible retirement if Democrats took control of the chamber.

That turned out not to be true.

Instead, McConnell powered on, accepting his new position as Senate Minority Leader and distancing himself from the party’s increasing drift toward the policies and rhetoric of Trumpism.

The GOP leader is expected to consult with medical professionals on when he can return to Capitol Hill, but chamber colleagues want the recovering senator to take his time.

“He’s chomping at the bit,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said.

Cornyn claims the Democratic-controlled Senate isn’t moving forward with pressing legislation, so there’s no rush, Bloomberg reported.

“We have a lot of very capable members of our leadership team and so everybody’s kind of stepping up and doing what they can to make sure that we got as I said all the bases covered until he gets back,” Senate GOP Whip John Thune (R-SD) said.

Stricken with polio as a child, McConnell was left with a limp – something that was relatively common for that time.

According to The New York Times, this isn’t the first serious fall the senator has had.

With those in the party like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) calling for an end to the Republican Party of the past, it’s unclear what effect the Kentuckian will have on the GOP when — or if — he decides to remain in his role.

Elected to the United States Senate in 1984, McConnell is in his seventh six-year term.

If Donald Trump’s latest rally is an indication of where the GOP is headed, it may be time for McConnell to focus on his personal health, because at this point the Republican Party appears to be too far gone.

Original reporting by Stephanie Lai at The New York Times.

Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick

Ty Ross
News journalist for Occupy Democrats.

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