By Zachary Stieber
Contributing Writer
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that he has been discharged from a rehabilitation facility and will be going home.
“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” McConnell, 84, said in a statement.
He thanked friends, colleagues and Kentucky residents for wishing him well, and the facility’s workers for helping care for him.
The senator did not provide any indication of when he will return to the Senate, from which he has been absent since June, and a spokeswoman for McConnell declined to provide an estimated date of return.
McConnell fell while at home in June and was taken to a hospital. He was later moved to the rehab facility.
“Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls,” Congress’ Office of the Attending Physician said in late July.
“His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility. He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office,” it added at the time.
McConnell said on July 27 that he was missing an event called Fancy Farm but was “looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon.”
McConnell has represented Kentucky in the Senate since 1985. McConnell won reelection in 2020 with 57.8% of the vote. He is the third-oldest U.S. senator, behind Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.. He is not running for another term. His term is slated to end in January 2027.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., won the Republican primary in his bid to succeed McConnell, while Democratic voters selected former Kentucky Rep. Charles Booker.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has called on McConnell to give a verbal address to Kentucky residents and provide proof that he’s capable of serving as a senator, or resigning.
“I understand anyone’s desire for privacy, but when you run for office and serve as one of a state’s two U.S. senators, you willingly abdicate much of your personal privacy,” Beshear said in a July letter to McConnell. “That’s the deal, and we all know it when we run.”
