Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is seen during a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Department of Defense budget hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC on May 19, 2026.
Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty Images
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday he has been discharged from a rehabilitation facility and will keep up with his Senate work from home, as he continues to recover following nearly two months of medical care after a fall.
“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period,” the 84-year-old senator said in a written statement.
He added, “I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business.”
McConnell has not been seen or heard in public since he was hospitalized in mid-June after suffering the fall at his home in Washington and then contracting pneumonia.
His staff has largely kept mum about the senior senator’s condition, despite mounting scrutiny from the media and some elected officials.
McConnell’s aides have periodically released written statements from the senator providing brief updates on his recovery progress.
Some of those press releases have included photos of a seated, smiling McConnell alongside his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. In one of them, McConnell is holding a newspaper, possibly to provide proof the photo was not taken earlier.
But no video or audio of McConnell has been released so far, and the scant, largely text-based assurances of his improvement have only fueled more speculation.
Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear recently urged McConnell to resign if he cannot prove his fitness for office.
Thursday’s press release did not include a photo.
McConnell said in a July 12 statement that he was moved to a rehab center, where he has apparently remained for more than three weeks.
He also revealed that, according to his doctors, he “briefly” lost consciousness in the fall. But he broke no bones and did not suffer a heart attack, concussion or stroke, and he has no tumors or hemorrhages, McConnell’s statement said.
On July 27, the congressional Office of the Attending Physician said doctors were meeting with McConnell at the facility every day, “discussing all aspects of his rehabilitation care.”
McConnell, the third-oldest member of the Senate behind Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has experienced numerous health scares in recent years, including multiple falls and verbal freeze-ups. He is not seeking reelection.
McConnell’s recovery could be critical to confirming Trump’s pick for attorney general, Todd Blanche, this week.
Republicans hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the Senate, which has been winnowed to 52 during McConnell’s extended absence — meaning Blanche can only afford two Republican defections to be confirmed.
If McConnell returns to the Senate, it could give the GOP a three-vote cushion to get the current acting attorney general across the finish line.
