Sen. McConnell issues statement, says he’s in rehab

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a written statement Sunday, saying he’d been moved from a hospital bed to a rehab facility after showing signs of improvement, but offering no answers as to what underlying condition put him in the hospital to begin with.

Is there anything we know about his ailment? The former Senate Republican leader said his hospitalization on June 14 was due to a fall he suffered for which doctors as yet have been unable to identify a cause. Beyond that, the senator’s statement focused on ruling out certain prognoses.

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” McConnell wrote. “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital.”

The senator added that he did suffer from a mild form of pneumonia.

McConnell added that he’d undergone numerous tests aimed to help doctors determine what caused him to fall.

An image released alongside the written statement appeared to show a robed McConnell smiling and sitting upright in a chair, presumably inside the rehab facility. A newspaper appeared to be in his right hand. His wife, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, appeared beaming beside him.

When will the senator return to the Senate? McConnell offered no timeline for his return to the Senate floor, saying his doctors did not advise it just yet. He expressed frustration over the delay, but insisted he was not taking any breaks from Senate business and was working closely with his staff to remain apprised of current events.

McConnell, 84, has held his Senate seat since 1985. He has experienced a number of medical incidents, including falls, in the past few years. He said in 2025 that he would not run for reelection.

Dig deeper: McConnell’s statement came on the same day news broke of GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham’s sudden and unexpected death at 71.