Three of the ailing Senators could stay away from the Capitol this week- and it has not been made clear as to when they would return. But one of them, Mitch McConnell- the Senate Minority Leader, has already maintained channels with some of the members of the leadership team- and has also conveyed to them that he was doing well and was quite anxious to get back to work.
On the other hand, Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has been constantly making progress through his clinical depression at the Walter Reed Medical Center- while he has also decided to remain in close contact with several key members of the staff- which was discussed by a source that was quite familiar with this situation.
Mitch McConnell Is Itching To Return To Senate
Unlike Mitch McConnell, Fetterman has not mentioned when he would be returning to the Senate. The Senator had previously entered treatment for clinical depression in February. After that, he suffered a stroke in May 2022- which led up to the Pennsylvania primary. Dianne Feinstein, an 89-year-old Senator from California, has also not returned to the Senate after she was hospitalized for shingles.
Her aides haven’t speculated as to her return. Since it is still quite early in the new session of Congress, it is still not clear if these absences will be creating multiple roadblocks when passing the bills or approving the nominees. It is understood that the Senate would have a two-week recess after the end of the next week- which could ideally provide the three different Senators a little cushion of time where they would be able to regain their health.
Republican Senator John Cornyn recently mentioned that Mitch McConnell was quite excited to get back to work- and the Senator from Kentucky did sound very sharp- despite his fall a few weeks ago.
