Sen. Luján returns to Senate after stroke

Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) returned to the Senate on Thursday for the first time after suffering a stroke.

Luján received a standing ovation from his colleagues as he arrived at a Senate Commerce Committee meeting. 

“Every one of you that sent me notes, that sent videos, and all the prayers, it worked,” Luján told his colleagues, adding that it was “an absolute honor to be back.”

Luján’s absence threw a curveball into the Democrats’ agenda, his presence leaving them down a crucial vote in the upper chamber’s 50-50 Senate.

Luján, 49, checked himself into a hospital in late January after feeling dizzy. His office subsequently announced that he had suffered a stroke. 

His office estimated that it would be four to six weeks before he returned but stressed that he would be back in time for the confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

Luján told reporters after the Commerce Committee meeting that he contemplated coming back last week but waited “to get a little stronger.”