The congressional physician said on Tuesday that Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, does not seem to have “a seizure problem,” “a stroke,” or “a movement issue such as Parkinson’s disease.”
Less than a week had passed when the 81-year-old senator had a second unsettling freeze in front of the media before the doctor’s comments.
Following the freeze in Kentucky on Wednesday, McConnell’s doctor, Brian P. Monahan, gave him the all-clear last week. According to Monahan, McConnell may have been dehydrated or experiencing the aftereffects of a concussion he had in a March fall.
Monahan wrote about the senator’s “short incident” in a letter made public on Tuesday, noting that he had undergone “many medical examinations,” including “brain MRI imaging, EEG [electroencephalogram] studies, and consultations with multiple neurologists for a full neurology assessment.”
According to Monahan’s letter, “There is no indication that you have a seizure issue, that you have had a stroke, TIA [transient ischemic attack], or that you have a movement disorder like Parkinson’s disease.” As you continue to recuperate from your fall in March 2023, there are no advised adjustments to your treatment methods.
McConnell was prevented from visiting the Capitol by a rib injury sustained in that mishap.
Despite Monahan’s promises, speculation regarding his future as the Republican leader will undoubtedly persist. Several falls, including a “face plant” at an airport, were widely reported after McConnell’s first freeze in front of reporters at the Capitol in late July.
Republicans in the Senate have refrained from overtly contesting their leader’s eligibility to serve, but several have claimed—under the condition of anonymity—that the matter is getting more and more attention.
On Tuesday, senators returned to Washington for a month full of political issues, including a drive by the House radicals to impeach Joe Biden, shut down the government, or both.
McConnell spoke on the Senate floor on Tuesday in the afternoon.
He then switched to talking about constituent business and upcoming work, alluding to his freeze in Kentucky as a period of the Senate summer break that “got its fair amount of exposure in the news.”
He stated, alluding to the 30 September deadline for maintaining government financing, “The Senate returns with our job cut out for us and a deadline quickly approaching.”
“I’ve had the opportunity to speak with Senator McConnell and found him to be very much still in leadership of that [Republican] caucus,” said Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy to CNN. His caucus will likely have to decide whether he remains, in my opinion. He definitely seems capable of doing that job going forward.
According to public polls, the majority of Americans believe their leaders are becoming too elderly and support rising the retirement age.
A majority of people believe that Biden is too elderly to seek reelection as president at the age of 80. Smaller majorities have concerns about Donald Trump, his potential opponent, who at 77 has 14 fewer years left on his clock than he is now under criminal investigation.
Dianne Feinstein, a senior Democrat from California who is 90 years old, has long been the center of controversy in the Senate, the oldest ever, especially during her own protracted, medically mandated absence.
Next year, Feinstein will retire. McConnell’s seventh term in office, which expires in 2026, is one that he has consistently said he wants to finish.
According to state law, Kentucky’s Democratic the office of governor Andy Beshear would have to choose a Republican to succeed to the governor’s office. When prompted whether he will make an effort to take advantage of that prohibition, Beshear has chosen not to respond.