Republicans are calling for new laws to deal with incapacitated members of Congress as the mystery surrounding Mitch McConnell’s health stretches into a sixth week.
Thirty-nine days after the 84-year-old Senator was admitted to the hospital and essentially vanished from public view, some within the GOP have revived the debate around fixed-term Congressional limits—and perhaps a way to remove lawmakers who are no longer capable of serving.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was among the most outspoken this week, declaring that the U.S. Senate “looks like an old folks home” filled with politicians remaining in office long after they are able to effectively serve.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz also weighed in on Capitol Hill, noting that even before McConnell’s latest health episode, he had introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to limit U.S. Senators to two six-year terms and members of the U.S. House of Representatives to three two-year terms.
McConnell’s fellow Kentuckian Thomas Massie has also joked that Congress needs a “three strokes and you’re out” rule, while Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett has called for an “incapacitation clause” allowing lawmakers who are medically unable to perform their duties to be replaced.
At present, there is no mechanism in the U.S. Constitution to deal with prolonged incapacity.
“I think it needs to happen yesterday,” he told independent journalist Desirée Townsend. “It’s pathetic.”
McConnell has served in the Senate since 1985, making him one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history.
He has also had multiple falls in recent years—often attributed to having polio as a child—and several highly publicized incidents where he abruptly froze while speaking.
But since being hospitalized on June 14, he has missed out on dozens of crucial votes in the Senate, while his office refuses to answer questions about his condition, fueling claims of a cover-up.
One video posted on X by reporter Nicholas Ballasy on Thursday shows McConnell’s communications director, Stephanie Penn, smiling in silence as she ignored his questions about the senator’s prolonged absence.
Another showed his $226,000-a-year chief of staff, Terry Carmack, also ignoring Ballasy’s inquiries as he was followed through the halls of the Senate on Wednesday.
“Do you think he should produce more information?” the reporter asks.
“Anything you can say, sir, about the situation? His constituents are wondering and there’s all kinds of things going around social media…”
McConnell was rushed to George Washington University Hospital on June 14 after a 911 call suggesting he’d had a heart attack, was unconscious, and had received CPR.
After ongoing pressure, his office eventually released a statement and a “proof of life” photo on July 12 stating he had suffered a fall, briefly lost consciousness, and later developed mild pneumonia before being transferred to rehabilitation.
But it is not clear if he was transferred to rehabilitation outside of GWU Hospital, or simply into the rehabilitation unit within the facility itself.
Adding to the mystery are unmarked Capitol Police SUVs that the Daily Beast has observed for days outside the hospital, parked in the same spot.
The vacuum has sparked countless theories online, with some believing that McConnell is dead or on life support, but that this is being covered up in order to avoid a vacancy being created in his seat.
However, the debate about term limits and members unable to fulfill their duties extends beyond McConnell.
The late Democratic Senator, Dianne Feinstein, for instance, remained in office through prolonged health struggles that left colleagues privately questioning whether she could fully carry out her duties before her death in 2023.
More recently, Congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, 89, faced mounting questions over her ability to continue representing the District of Columbia after reports of memory lapses and calls from local Democratic leaders for her to step aside.
Neither case resulted in a formal mechanism to remove an elected lawmaker.
The Constitution provides no process for declaring a senator or House member medically incapacitated. Unless a member dies, resigns or is expelled, they remain in office regardless of their ability to work.
In January, Senators Ted Cruz, Alabama Republican Katie Britt and ten of their Senate Republican colleagues reintroduced an amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress.
The amendment would limit U.S. Senators to two six-year terms and Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to three two-year terms after its enactment.
“Our country deserves leaders truly accountable to the people they serve, which is why I proudly cosponsored the U.S. Term Limits Amendment as one of my first actions in the 119th Congress,” Britt said at the time.
