McConnell’s Office Says a Fall and Mild Pneumonia Caused His Weekslong Hospital Stay

A fall and “a mild case of pneumonia” caused Sen. Mitch McConnell’s weekslong absence from the Capitol, according to a statement released Sunday from the Kentucky Republican’s office.

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” the statement quoted McConnell as saying. “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. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.”

The statement did not specify exactly how long the 84-year-old senator was unconscious after the fall on June 14.

McConnell has been moved from a hospital to a rehabilitation center to continue his recovery, according to the statement.

“The remainder of his hospital stay focused on physical therapy and strategies to reduce his risk of future falls,” McConnell’s attending physician said in a statement also issued by the senator’s office. “He has been medically cleared to continue fully participating in his intensive physical therapy program.”

It’s unclear when McConnell will return to the Senate.

“As much as it frustrates me, this process takes time. And on the advice of my doctors, I won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet,” McConnell said, according to his office.

Emergency services were dispatched to McConnell’s home on June 14, and a 17-second video obtained by CNN showed the senator being loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher on that same day.

On June 15, several high-ranking Republican senators — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso — said they spoke with McConnell after he was hospitalized.

Speculation swirled about McConnell’s health over the past month, while his office released brief statements saying the senator was continuing to improve.

On Tuesday, multiple Republican lawmakers including Thune and Barrasso, as well as other allies, said they recently had conversations with McConnell.

Scott Jennings, a conservative cable news commentator, said he spoke with McConnell “for just shy of 20 minutes” about Iran, Ukraine, Graham Platner, the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Senate history.

“I told him we want to see him back at work as soon as possible,” Jennings wrote on X.

Those accounts didn’t satisfy everyone. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear demanded an update from McConnell, writing in a letter Wednesday that Kentuckians had become “increasingly concerned” about his condition.

Multiple media outlets have reported details from audio of an emergency call that revealed paramedics responded on June 14 to a cardiac arrest and performed CPR for an individual at an address connected to McConnell. Though the senator’s office has not commented on the recording.

McConnell, a survivor of childhood polio, was hospitalized for eight days in February for flu-like symptoms. He has also appeared to freeze on multiple occasions while speaking to the media. McConnell is not seeking an eighth term in office.