Mitch McConnell returns to US Senate after three-month absence

Senator McConnell casts his first vote since June, pledging presence for crucial Senate decisions.

United States Senator Mitch McConnell has returned to Congress, casting his vote for the first time since he was hospitalised three months ago after a fall in his home in Washington, raising questions about his ability to serve.

“I must admit. After two years of – decades, actually – dodging your questions, I wasn’t sure how many of you would be here today. But I’m glad to see you. Time to get back to work, finish the job for this Congress,” McConnell told reporters outside the Senate chamber on Monday.

The disappearance from public view of the ۸۴-year-old Kentucky Republican raised many questions within the Republican Party.

But he put the speculation to rest on Monday in a statement on social media announcing his return.

“Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June,” he wrote on X. “I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues.”

He said he is “not quite back to ۱۰۰%”, adding that the lingering effects of “childhood polio” made his recovery difficult, but he assured his colleagues that he will do his “best to be present” for tough votes “when our conference needs me”.

There were growing worries within the Republican Party that his absence would negatively affect it, as the party holds a narrow ۵۳-۴۷ majority in the Senate.

Democrats have already used his absence to pass a resolution against US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, as four Republicans also broke from the party to support the resolution.

McConnell is the longest-serving Senate leader in US history. He announced early last year that he will not be standing for an eighth term.

Kentucky’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, raised questions about McConnell’s ability to continue serving his final term that ends January ۲۰۲۷.