Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell won't be returning to the Senate just yet. After nearly six weeks out of the public eye, the former GOP leader said Monday that he has not yet been medically cleared to get back to work.
According to the U.S. Office of the Attending Physician, McConnell has been undergoing an intensive rehabilitation program after being hospitalized last month due to a fall. "I'm still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors' orders," McConnell said in a statement.
Alongside the update, his office released a new photo of the senator with his wife, Elaine Chao — only the second public image of McConnell since his hospitalization.
Here's what we know about McConnell's ongoing recovery, and an ultimatum from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
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Going further: McConnell's absence is exposing surprising gaps in the Constitution. We looked into what happens when a member of Congress disappears or becomes too sick to serve — and what we found may surprise you. |
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Bystanders watch the smoke and flames from a wildfire in Cotignac, France. (Getty Images) |
French President Emmanuel Macron says the country is facing its "most severe" situation since World War II as wildfires rage in the southwest. In the Gironde region, which includes Bordeaux, more than 240 homes have been incinerated, with over 104,000 acres burned. "[It] reminds me a little bit like Pompeii," one resident of Bordeaux told the BBC. "It was quite difficult to breathe." In Spain, firefighters are racing to control blazes near Madrid, where more than 63,000 people have been evacuated. Heightening the urgency, temperatures of 102°F are forecast in the region (and in the south of France) this week, with no rain expected until Friday. |
The Trump administration is appealing to the Supreme Court to allow major new limits on mail-in voting ahead of November's midterms. The request stems from an executive order President Trump signed in March that attempted to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and restrict mail-in voting only to people on that list. A Massachusetts appeals court last week upheld a federal judge's block on that order, with a divided panel finding that it would “sow confusion” and “threaten disenfranchisement of many eligible voters.” Appealing to SCOTUS, Solicitor General D. John Sauer called the lower court ruling “indefensible,” adding that it inflicted “serious irreparable harm on the federal government.”
Michigan's Democratic candidates for the August 4 Senate primary battled it out last night to prove they were the best choice to take on Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November. Rep. Haley Stevens claimed she'd be "Michigan’s workhorse," touting support from two-term Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and reminding the audience of her victory in a Republican-leaning district. Stevens' progressive rival, former public health official Abdul El-Sayed, accused her of being a pawn for corporate interests. He also clarified his leaked comments about progressives needing to put the head of an "ogre" on a pike, saying he was referring to Sen. John Fetterman, not Stevens. Whoever wins next week's primary will fight to retain retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters' seat — which is vital to the party's hopes of gaining the four seats it needs to reclaim control of the chamber.
Diary entries by Dr. Anthony Fauci, released this week by Sen. Rand Paul, reveal his musings about the Covid-19 pandemic's origins, his delight in his newfound fame, and his frustrations with a "rambling" Trump and what he called the "slanderous lies" about him spread by "extreme right elements in society." Paul is attempting to prove that Fauci lied to Congress to cover up the possibility the virus leaked from a lab, which Fauci has consistently denied. The diaries don't back Paul's claim, but he's called Fauci to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Audio clips released by the right-wing Oversight Project reveal that Joe Biden acknowledged keeping classified material after leaving office as Vice President. "I just found all the classified stuff downstairs," Biden can be heard saying in one from February 2017, a month after he left the White House. The recordings came from interviews between Biden and the ghostwriter of his 2017 memoir. The Oversight Project — a branch of the Heritage Foundation think tank — successfully sued the Justice Department to release the tapes despite strenuous efforts by Biden's lawyers. A Biden spokesperson said last week that the tapes were provided to the DOJ on the "express condition" that they remain private. "Reversing course and making them public is just the latest example of this administration weaponizing the DOJ for political retribution," they added.
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| On the Record In a detailed statement, Carly Simon explained her absence from public view and the diagnosis she's been coming to terms with.
Read More » |
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Thinking Things Through Small talk gets a bad rap. In his new column, Glenn Sonnenberg digs into the science-backed benefits of talking to strangers.
Read More » |
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| Night Cap Having trouble sleeping? Before you pound more melatonin, see what a doctor says about what people can get wrong.
Read More » |
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Blueprint Medicines, a Sanofi company |
In the summer of 2000, Shawna was a young mom chasing after her kids when she suddenly fainted. At the time, it seemed like nothing more than exhaustion. Over 20 years later, she recognizes it as the first sign of her ongoing battle with a rare disease called indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM), which has potentially debilitating symptoms that aren’t always visible. We’ve got the details on how Shawna charted a path to advocacy and uses her voice to empower others.
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Changing the Conversation |
The environment is tough to talk about these days, when some Americans openly deny the science around climate change and the Trump administration has rolled back or slowed a number of key protections for the planet.
In today's issue of Ripple Effect, we've got an important interview with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican who's making it his mission to find common ground on caring for the climate. Click here to sign up so you won't miss his insights about closing the political divide on this issue that affects us all.
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