NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who has been absent from the Senate since a June 14 fall at his home, is not yet ready to return to work, according to the official physician of the US Capitol.
McConnell, 84, is currently at a rehabilitation facility.
Although the senator has been doing extensive physical therapy, “his bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility,” the Office of the Attending Physician said in a statement. “He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
The statement, accompanied by a photo of the ailing senator with his wife, Elaine Chao, came ahead of an annual political event in western Kentucky this weekend he would normally attend.
“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders,” McConnell said.
The statement raises questions about when McConnell will return to voting in the Senate, ahead of potentially close votes on a stopgap spending bill and the Iran war budget. McConnell is chairman of the Senate’s defense appropriations panel.
McConnell is not seeking reelection and is set to vacate his seat in January. Representative Andy Barr won the Republican primary and is the favorite to win in November against Democrat Charles Booker.
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