(USNewsMag.com) – After recovering from a fall in March in which he suffered a concussion and fractured rib, Senate Minority Leader and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to work April 17 in the Senate. April 17 was the first time the Senate had been in session in two weeks.
When the Senate reconvenes, McConnell will be facing negotiations over the debt ceiling as well as other policy issues.
McConnell, 81, had been hospitalized March 8 after tripping and falling during a dinner in Washington, D.C. at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. After being in the hospital, he was transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility March 13 where he went through physical therapy. He was released from the inpatient rehabilitation facility March 25.
A few years ago McConnell fell at his Kentucky home and fractured his shoulder. McConnell, who as a child suffered from polio, has previously said as an adult he has faced difficulty climbing stairs.
McConnell, who has served as the Senate minority leader since 2021, was first elected to the Senate in 1984. As of the start of 2023, McConnell is the longest-serving party leader in the history of the Senate.
McConnell was not the only senator who was out after being absent for an extended period of time. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat, was released at the end of March from inpatient treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he was treated for clinical depression. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, has been recovering after being hospitalized with shingles.
Feinstein has asked the Senate Majority Leader and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer to appoint another senator to serve temporarily on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The temporary replacement of Feinstein will be one of the first issues McConnell will have to face as Democrats need Republicans’ help to reach the 60-vote threshold required for the approval process.
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