Something Is Going On With Mitch McConnell’s Health, and His Office Is Being Mighty Cagey About It

Update, July 2, 2026, at 6:09 p.m.: This piece has been updated to reflect a new statement from Mitch McConnell’s office.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans’ 84-year-old former party leader and long-time bane of Democrats’ existence, checked into a hospital last month and has hardly been heard from since. Let’s break down what we know—and, more pointedly, don’t—about McConnell’s condition, then get into the broader issue of lawmakers not being straight about their health.

Why do we think McConnell might be really unwell?
Two things happened on June 14: According to police audio unearthed this week, paramedics gave CPR to an “unconscious” person who’d experienced “cardiac arrest” at an address that matches McConnell’s D.C. home. That’s the same day that the Kentucky senator entered the hospital, where a spokesperson said he was “receiving excellent care.” About a week later, McConnell’s office said he was “still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery.” This evening, his office finally provided another update: McConnell remains hospitalized but “continues to improve.” He last voted on June 11.

What don’t we know?

Technically, we don’t know for sure that the police audio was about McConnell, though it’d be a tremendous coincidence if he happened to be hospitalized the same day that someone else in his house got CPR for cardiac arrest. McConnell’s office doesn’t seem eager to get more specific: They still haven’t said why he’s in the hospital.

McConnell has had health struggles for a while, right?

In 2023, McConnell tripped, sustained a concussion, and was away from the Senate for nearly six weeks. Later that year, he twice froze during press conferences, stared into space, and had to be assisted. (His office said he’d felt “lightheaded.”) He had additional falls in 2024 and 2025, injuring his wrist and face. (Staff said they were lingering effects of polio, which McConnell had as a child.) In February, he was hospitalized for more than a week with “flu-like symptoms.” When I visited the Capitol in April, I saw aides navigating McConnell around in a wheelchair.

Not to be dark, but what happens if McConnell dies? 

It’s a morbid but fair question. In a narrowly divided Congress, every absence can make it harder to pass legislation or confirm nominees—and even change which party has control. Most deceased senators are succeeded by temporary replacements appointed by their state’s governor. But not in Kentucky. The state’s Republican-dominated Legislature changed the law in 2024 so that any Senate vacancy gets filled not by the governor—who happens to be a Democrat—but via special election. McConnell, ever the wily tactician, may have been planning ahead; he has praised the change, although Kentucky Republicans deny they made it with McConnell’s health in mind. And either way, this is his last term; he’s set to retire in January.

Is McConnell the only member of Congress out sick?

Nope. Rep. Neal Dunn, a 73-year-old Florida Republican who has an undisclosed terminal illness, won’t be casting votes unless House leaders need him to, the outlet Punchbowl News reported today. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican, just returned to the Hill after a nearly four-month absence that he said was a result of depression. And five House members—four of them Democrats—have died in office so far this Congress.

Read more The Deeper Meaning of Ketanji Brown Jackson vs. Clarence Thomas on Birthright Citizenship

Is McConnell being uniquely squirrely about his health? 

Hiding infirmities from the public is a recurring theme in American politics. Politicians up to the president have done so almost since the beginning of the republic. But things have arguably gotten worse in recent years. The last three presidents (two of them Donald Trump) have been the oldest ever elected, and the share of Congress members who are in their 70s or 80s has skyrocketed. Democrats forced Joe Biden to abandon his reelection bid in 2024 after an at-times-incoherent debate supercharged concerns about his cognitive health. Aging can be a sensitive issue; the rest of us don’t have to do it under a microscope. On the other hand, most of us can’t spend weeks away from our jobs for undisclosed reasons, either. And as the saying goes, with power comes responsibility—in this case, to be transparent with one’s constituents. McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader ever, masterminded Republicans’ successful effort to steal a Supreme Court seat under Barack Obama and is arguably responsible for Trump’s political resurrection after voting to acquit him at his impeachment trial over Jan. 6. But age eventually comes for us all.

And with that, you’re caught up. For your evening enjoyment, and to help get you in the spirit of the holiday weekend, I’d humbly suggest:

Boozy reads fit for a patriot: Brooke Barbier tells the unbelievable story of how a tax on whiskey nearly tore a young nation apart. And although good wine was hard to find this side of the Atlantic back in Thomas Jefferson’s day, N.C. Stevens explains how winemakers in Jefferson’s beloved Virginia are filling bottles that the Founding Fathers would be proud of.

A cinematic split-screen: My colleague Sam Adams makes the case that the latest Minions movie offers a better lesson in American history than a new biopic about the young man who grew up to become our first president.

A preview of the wedding of the century: Slate’s Heather Schwedel followed the breadcrumbs, and it looks like pop icon Taylor Swift will indeed marry her football-playing beau Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden this weekend. Here’s what you need to know.

Football—the other kind—fit for Independence Day: The U.S., fresh off a win that catapulted them into the World Cup’s round of 16, won’t play again until Monday. Whet your appetite with Argentina vs. Cape Verde at 6 Eastern tomorrow evening, Canada vs. Morocco on Saturday at 1, and Mexico vs. England on Sunday at 8. The tournament’s full schedule is here.

That’s all for now. I’m off tomorrow for the holiday and am wishing you a happy and (safely) pyrotechnic Independence Day. ’Til Monday!

Read more Don’t Let the Supreme Court’s Big Decision Fool You. Trump Is Still a Threat to Mail Ballots.