Rep. James Comer (R-KY) on Thursday said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is expected to return to the Senate next week after a roughly three-month-long absence.
The development comes as it remained unclear whether McConnell, who suffered a fall that kept him away from his duties in June, would return to Capitol Hill on Sept. 14, when the Senate returns to session after summer recess. Comer told reporters he is in regular contact with the senator’s staff and relayed that “they have all said it’s their goal for Sen. McConnell to be here when the Senate comes in next week.”
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“I expect that. I sure hope so,” Comer said. “…I’ve talked to staff, many of whom are from my district originally, and they have all said it’s their goal for Senator McConnell to be here when the Senate comes in next week. I have not talked to him personally, but I’ve talked to the staff regularly.”
McConnell, 84, was the longest-serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside and allowing Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to fill the top spot in January 2025. The following month, McConnell announced he would not seek reelection, meaning he will leave Congress once he finishes up his seventh and final Senate term in Jan. 2027.
The senator has been in increasingly frail health in recent years, an issue that came to a head on June 14, when he was hospitalized for a fall. Weeks of silence followed, leaving McConnell’s condition unclear.
Details remain sparse, but the elderly senator announced on Aug. 6 that he had been released from a rehabilitation center.
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“Folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older,” the senator said in a July 12 statement that broke weeks of silence. “Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct — I can’t help it.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to McConnell’s office for comment.
