Injuries and Illness Slow McConnell and Feinstein, and the Senate Itself

WASHINGTON—Two high-profile absences have left the Senate in a state of uncertainty at a crucial time, whether Democrats will be able to do business, and a potentially chaotic time as Republicans try to recover. Questions have arisen about who will lead the Republican Party. Mostly next year.

Both Kentucky Republican and minority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell and six-term California Democrat Sen. He hasn’t been seen in public for over a month.

After weeks of silence about his whereabouts and details of his condition, McConnell, 81, suffered a concussion and broken ribs in a serious fall last month. said in a tweet On Thursday, he said he would return to the Senate next week when Congress returns from a two-week recess.

“Looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday,” he tweeted. “For Kentuckians and the American people, there is important business to tackle and a big battle to win.”

Feinstein, 89, has shared few details since staff announced in March that he had been hospitalized with shingles.

Both cases highlight the difficulty of governing with a minimal majority in a parliament populated by an aging and frail group of parliamentarians.

Democrats won seats in last year’s midterm elections, boosting their 50-50 majority to 51-49, hoping it would make it easier to move nominees and run the Senate more efficiently. But keeping all 51 senators aligned with the Democrats, even as Congress confirms the Biden presidential nominee and heads for a key showdown over spending and raising the federal debt ceiling. turned out to be very difficult.

Most notably, Senator John Fetterman, a freshman Democrat from Pennsylvania who suffered a stroke while campaigning, was absent for six weeks due to treatment for depression. Congress is scheduled to resume on

Feinstein’s absence, in particular, has hampered Democrats and made it difficult to move forward with a judicial nomination. This is a major priority for Mr. Biden and Senate Democrats, and one of the only significant actions they can take without the help of Republicans.

Ms. Feinstein has suffered from acute short-term memory problems for years, causing serious concern among those she interacts with. She announced earlier this year that she would not be running for re-election in 2024. This put the civil servant in her long-supposed imminent retirement and kicked off a crowded, costly and risky Senate election in California in search of her replacement.

But since being diagnosed with shingles in February, she has missed 58 votes in the Senate, prompting some Democrats, including Rep. Khanna is co-chair of Rep. Barbara Lee’s campaign for Feinstein’s seat.

In response, Feinstein said Wednesday he had no intention of stepping down and had asked for a temporary replacement on the Judiciary Committee. isn’t it.

On Thursday, some of her colleagues jumped to her defense in the face of mounting campaigns calling for Mr Feinstein to step down. Former Fed Chair Nancy Pelosi told reporters that the campaign to oust Feinstein was sexist.

“I’ve never seen a sick man pursued like that in the Senate,” she said, referring to multiple past cases where male senators appeared unable to carry out their duties due to age or illness. But my colleagues were largely silent about it.

Pelosi has long defended a senior senator from her home state, a trailblazer for women coming of age in Washington at a time when women rarely exercised political power. The former chair has also publicly endorsed Feinstein, California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, for the seat.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to nominate a black woman for the vacancy if Feinstein resigns before his term expires. That person could give him an edge in a campaign that has already attracted big names from California, including Schiff, Lee and Rep. Katie Porter.

Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, a Democrat, also criticized those calling for Mr. Feinstein’s resignation, saying McConnell’s dismissal did not receive a similar round of applause.

“There are male members of Congress who have been out of the House for quite some time and who have not necessarily been asked to resign,” Murphy said on MSNBC. “For example, Mitch McConnell.”

Still, McConnell’s long absence and refusal to provide details of his recovery since collapsing while attending a fundraising event at a Washington hotel on March 8 have led to his recent absence. Rumors and speculation are growing about the state and future in the Senate. .

In contrast to Mr. Fetterman, who publicly announced that he had checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to seek treatment for depression, Mr. McConnell revealed where he had been during several weeks of inpatient rehabilitation. And since returning to his home on Capitol Hill, he has been out of the public eye, where he has met with staff and conducted business.

Democrats have largely refrained from publicly questioning McConnell’s absence, and Republicans are not calling for McConnell to resign. Senator John Thune of South Dakota, who is the frontrunner to replace him, said McConnell’s colleagues were eager for him to return.

But his failure to stay in the public eye with little information about what’s to come has fueled debate over who would replace him if the longtime leader of the Republican Party were to step down.

Those close to him claim that he has no plans to do so in the short term and that when he returns to work he will change very little.

Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins said, “I spoke directly to Mitch. ‘He’s as sharp as ever.'”

In his absence, the Senate made a rare joint statement with New York Democrat and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Multiple statements on the previous issue have been released in his name. He has been detained in Russia after the two leaders accused him of “fabricated charges.”

Many Republican lawmakers and staff believe that keeping McConnell’s condition a secret is consistent with his tendency to do what’s best and keep both opponents and allies speculating about his plans. said.

McConnell isn’t the only recent elderly senator to be stalled in a serious accident. His longtime Democratic opposition number, Harry Reid of Nevada, was seriously injured while exercising with a resistance band at his home outside Las Vegas on New Year’s Day 2015, blinding him in one eye. Did.

Reed, 75, returned to Washington to prepare for the start of the new Congress, but did not attend the opening of the session. However, he released photos and videos of meetings with his colleagues and returned to the Senate a few weeks later to be bandaged.

Reed did not run for re-election in 2016, and although he disputed the idea when it was announced, he later said injuries were a major factor in his decision.

Prolonged medical absences in the Senate are not unprecedented. Former Democratic Senator from South Dakota, Tim Johnson, suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2006 that left him speech and motor impaired. He was off the floor for almost his year.

Former Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk suffered a major stroke in 2012 and took a year to recover.