GOP leader Mitch McConnell at rehab facility after hospital stay, also suffered rib fracture

By Clare Foran and Manu Raju, CNN

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been discharged from the hospital after being treated for a concussion and a rib fracture, his office announced Monday.

The Kentucky Republican tripped at a dinner event on Wednesday evening, his communications director said last week. McConnell had been admitted to a hospital and was being treated for a concussion, according to the statement at the time. He was expected, it said, to stay at the hospital “for a few days of observation and treatment.”

He also suffered a rib fracture, according to a statement from his communications director on Monday, and will go to a rehabilitation facility before going home.

“Leader McConnell’s concussion recovery is proceeding well and the Leader was discharged from the hospital today. At the advice of his physician, the next step will be a period of physical therapy at an inpatient rehabilitation facility before he returns home,” David Popp said in the statement.

Popp added, “Over the course of treatment this weekend, the Leader’s medical team discovered that he also suffered a minor rib fracture on Wednesday, for which he is also being treated.”

A McConnell aide said the length of the GOP leader’s stay at a rehab facility depends on his progress.

“That decision will be made by the Leader’s physicians and the therapists. It is very common to undergo physical therapy to regain strength after a hospital stay and this ranges anywhere from a week to two weeks.”

The fall happened at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, DC, which was formerly the Trump International Hotel, according to a source familiar with the matter.

McConnell, who is 81 years old, is one of the most prominent figures in the Republican Party and on Capitol Hill. He has served in the role of both Senate majority and minority leader and has worked to advance highly consequential Republican priorities over the years, including the confirmation of conservative judges to the federal bench.

CNN reported Friday that McConnell was acting normally and eager to be discharged from the hospital. A person familiar with the matter told CNN that he had no visible wounds from the fall.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have publicly offered McConnell well wishes and conveyed their hopes for a quick recovery.

In 2019, McConnell fell at his Kentucky home and fractured his shoulder.

McConnell is not the only senator who’s been away from the chamber for health reasons in recent days. Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Dianne Feinstein of California have also been hospitalized in recent weeks, with Fetterman seeking treatment for depression and Feinstein for shingles.

Both sides of the aisle are impacted by absences in the chamber that is divided by 51 members of the Democratic Caucus to Republicans’ 49. With such a tight margin, any one missing senator can alter the timing for votes concerning party-line legislation or confirming President Joe Biden’s Executive Branch nominees.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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CNN’s Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.