Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 84, was found “unconscious” at his home last month before CPR was administered.
The Republican lawmaker may have suffered a heart attack, according to an emergency personnel call first obtained by independent journalist Desirée Townsend.
The June 14 call detailed an emergency dispatch to McConnell’s Washington, D.C., residence, where first responders were told of “CPR in progress” due to “cardiac arrest.”
Robert Steurer, a spokesperson for McConnell, referred the Daily Beast to a statement from last week.
“Senator McConnell is still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery. However, he will not be voting this week.”
Before the call was made public, the Kentucky senator’s latest medical issue had been kept private, even as he remained MIA for more than a week.
“Senator McConnell is still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery. However, he will not be voting this week,” McConnell spokesperson David Popp said on June 22, according to Politico.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who succeeded McConnell as Senate majority leader, told PunchBowl News on June 15 that he had spoken with the senator, who he said was “clearly dialed into what’s going on” in the Senate chamber despite his hospitalization.
McConnell, who is set to retire in January when his seventh term ends later this year, has faced several health scares throughout his tenure as a legislator.
The former GOP leader checked himself into a hospital earlier this year in February “in an abundance of caution” after experiencing “flu-like symptoms,” according to his office. McConnell spent around eight days in the hospital and missed several crucial Senate votes in the process.
In October, the Kentucky legislator fell over at the Capitol while he was confronted over immigration enforcement. He had previously fallen and injured his wrist in December 2024 and suffered a concussion in 2023.
McConnell was the only Republican to oppose Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation as national intelligence director, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment as health secretary. He also joined GOP Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins in voting against Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as defense secretary.
