McConnell discharged from hospital, won’t return to Senate immediately   

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) was discharged from the hospital Monday after suffering a concussion last week when he tripped and fell at a private dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in downtown Washington.  

McConnell, who is 81, is not expected to return to the Senate this week when senators are scheduled to vote on legislation to repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force in Iraq. 

Doctors discovered this weekend that the leader also suffered what his office described as “a minor rib fracture,” for which he is being treated.  

“Leader McConnell’s concussion recovery is proceeding well, and the leader was discharged from the hospital today. At the advice of his physician, the next step will be a period of physical therapy at an inpatient rehabilitation facility before he returns home,” said McConnell’s Communications Director David Popp.  

Popp said McConnell and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, “are deeply thankful for the skilled medical care, prayers, and kindness they have received.”  

McConnell missed a call the administration hosted for senators and House members Sunday to brief them on Biden’s decision to protect depositors in Silicon Valley Bank and other banks taken over by the federal government. 

McConnell fell Wednesday after attending a reception for the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that pumped $290 million into the 2022 election, followed by a private dinner at the Waldorf Astoria.  

Sources familiar with the evening described the dinner as a small private event. McConnell was taken to the hospital by ambulance after tripping and hitting his head.  

McConnell fractured his shoulder after falling at his home in Kentucky in 2019.  

He was easily reelected to a seventh Senate term in 2020 and in January surpassed the late-Sen. Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) as the longest serving party leader in Senate history.  Mansfield had been the Senate GOP leader from 1961 to 1977.

McConnell succeeded former Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) as Senate Republican leader in January of 2007.