Sunday, July 26, 2026, Sen. Mitch McConnell and former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Source: Office of Mitch McConnell.
Sen. Mitch McConnell is recovering from a debilitating fall last month but has not yet been cleared to return to work, the Congressional Physician’s Office said Monday, more than six weeks since the Kentucky Republican was last seen in public.
In a statement shared by McConnell’s staff in a press release, doctors from the Office of the Attending Physician (OAP) meet with the 84-year-old senator daily at his rehabilitation facility and “discuss all aspects of his rehabilitation care,” the office announced.
The release included a written statement from McConnell apologizing for not being able to attend the upcoming Kentucky Picnic event.
“I am working hard to return to my full schedule of work in the Senate and Kentucky while continuing intensive physical therapy as directed by my doctors,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go to Fancy Farm in Kentucky this Saturday.”
“As always, we thank you all for your continued well-being and look forward to returning to the Senate and the state of Kentucky soon,” the statement reads.
The update also included a photo of McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, with a caption dated Sunday.
“Since being discharged from hospital, he has continued rigorous physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions per day, to regain his strength and reduce the risk of future falls,” the OAP statement said.
The doctor’s office said McConnell’s childhood experience with polio “remains an important factor in his mobility.”
“He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehabilitation facility and return to the office,” the OAP said.
McConnell, a former Republican Senate majority leader who is in his final term, has suffered multiple health scares in recent years, including multiple falls and speech problems.
In mid-June, he suffered a fall and was hospitalized for several weeks. Later, during McConnell’s Washington speech on the day he was hospitalized, it was reported that responders had performed CPR on a person who had gone into cardiac arrest.
Mr. McConnell’s office initially provided few details about the incident and his current health, but in a brief statement suggested he was clear-headed and engaged.
Amid growing doubts, several of Mr. McConnell’s Republican supporters said they had extensive phone conversations with Mr. McConnell earlier this month. But those assurances lacked details or additional evidence about McConnell’s health, only inviting further scrutiny. On July 8, Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear formally requested an update on McConnell’s health.
On July 12, McConnell’s office shared a written update from the senator, explaining that the fall left him unconscious and he later developed “mild pneumonia.”
But the statement said McConnell was told in the fall that he had no broken bones, no tumors or bleeding, and no concussions, heart attacks or strokes. The senator added that he was transferred from the hospital to a rehabilitation center.
