Mitch McConnell returns to Senate after fall

Republican US Senator Mitch McConnell returned to Congress on Monday after a monthslong medical absence caused by a fall.

McConnell, 84, said in a statement on X that he would cast his first Senate vote since he took “a bad fall back in June.” He said his recovery had been long and frustrating, and that the lingering effects of childhood polio had made it harder.

The Kentucky senator was first hospitalized in mid-June. He said on July 12 that he had fallen, lost consciousness, remained in hospital after catching a minor case of pneumonia and was later transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

McConnell, a former Senate Republican leader, appeared in the halls of Congress in a wheelchair. He said he was “not quite back to 100%” but would do his best to be present for difficult votes as Congress resumed after its summer recess.

McConnell is not seeking reelection in November's midterm elections. His absence had put pressure on the slim Republican majority in the Senate.