McConnell admitted to hospital

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Retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was admitted to a hospital on Sunday, according to a spokesperson.

“Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care,” said David Popp, a senior adviser to the Kentucky senator.

Popp did not provide further details on why McConnell was admitted to the hospital. McConnell voted on the two Senate roll calls held on Thursday.

McConnell, 84, has dealt with multiple health issues in recent years. The former Senate GOP leader is the third-oldest member of the Senate, behind 92-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and 84-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

In February, McConnell spent more than a week in the hospital due to flu-like symptoms. Last October, he fell down after being heckled by left-wing activists at the Capitol complex.

McConnell survived polio as a child and has referenced “lingering effects” in his left leg after previous incidents. He also fell down a small set of stairs while leaving the Capitol in February 2025.

The Kentucky Republican also had two freezing episodes in 2023. Earlier that year, McConnell suffered a concussion and fractured rib after falling at a private dinner in Washington, D.C.

The chair of the Senate Rules Committee, McConnell will depart the upper chamber when his term ends in January. The 84-year-old led the Senate Republican Conference from 2007 to 2025, making him the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history.

McConnell is also the ninth-longest-serving senator in American history and will tie the late former Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) for seventh on that list upon his departure from the Senate.

Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) won the GOP nomination to succeed McConnell last month and will face former state Rep. Charles Booker (D) in November. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as solidly in the GOP’s column.

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