Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell mentioned he’s returning to Congress Monday after an almost six-week absence recovering from a concussion suffered in a fall.
His arrival shall be met by rumors of an impending retirement.
A high McConnell aide instructed The Washington Times the Kentucky Republican “is not going anywhere,” and rejected studies within the media that counsel he’s stepping down.
The retirement claims are primarily based on reporting that Mr. McConnell’s deputies, together with Minority Whip John Thune, of South Dakota, are actively jockeying for help from fellow GOP lawmakers in anticipation of an election to select a brand new occasion chief.
Several management aides instructed The Times that Mr. McConnell’s return will put the rumors in media studies to relaxation.
Mr. McConnell, 81, was hospitalized on March 9 after struggling a concussion from a fall on the Waldorf Astoria lodge in Washington D.C.
He was hospitalized for a number of days after which spent almost two weeks in a rehab facility.
His political staff final month mentioned Mr. McConnell deliberate to come back again to work after the Easter break, and on Thursday he introduced plans to return to the Senate.
“I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday,” Mr. McConnell tweeted. “We’ve got important business to tackle and big fights to win for Kentuckians and the American people.”
Mr. McConnell has been in GOP management since 2003 and the occasion chief within the Senate since 2007. He is the final of a foursome of leaders in each events who’ve ruled the Capitol for many years and effectively into their 70s and 80s.
Earlier this yr, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, now 83, relinquished her position main House Democrats for greater than twenty years. Her high deputy, Rep. Steny Hoyer, additionally 83, joined her in stepping apart.
Mr. McConnell’s longtime Democratic opponent within the Senate, the late Harry Reid of Nevada, retired in 2016 at age 76 after struggling important facial accidents in an accident involving train gear.
Mr. McConnell has additionally suffered his share of accidents. A polio survivor, he fractured his shoulder in a 2019 fall at his Kentucky house. In 2020, well being rumors swirled when he confirmed up with important discoloration on his fingers.
Mr. McConnell has additionally battled fierce criticism from former President Donald Trump and a few high media conservatives who need him changed with a conservative who will extra aggressively battle Democrats.
After Republicans did not recapture the Senate in November, Mr. McConnell confronted a management problem by a conservative faction within the GOP convention, however handily gained a closed-door reelection.
Mr. McConnell swatted down retirement speak at the moment as effectively.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he instructed reporters in November after defeating a problem from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com