Updated

Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 7

McConnell, 84, Calls 2 GOP Leaders From Hospital as 20-Minute Chat Aims to Ease Health Fears

Updated

Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 7

McConnell, 84, Calls 2 GOP Leaders From Hospital as 20-Minute Chat Aims to Ease Health Fears

Q: A senator is hospitalized after CPR reports. What does a new state law mean for his suddenly vulnerable seat?

If Mitch McConnell’s seat were to become vacant now, Kentucky’s 2024 law means it would likely not be filled immediately by a governor’s appointment. Instead, the seat would remain vacant until a special election is held, with the winner serving the rest of his term, which ends in January 2027. That is a major change from the prior system, under which the governor could make a temporary appointment. The new law removed that power and requires the governor to call a statewide special election for any Senate vacancy before the term expires. Because McConnell has already said he will not seek another term, Kentucky voters are already set to choose his long-term successor in November 2026, but a vacancy before then could still trigger a separate contest for the remainder of this term. The practical effect is that his seat is more exposed to being empty for a period of time if he were to die or resign. That could matter in a closely divided Senate because Kentucky would temporarily have only one sitting senator. There is also an unresolved legal issue. Some election-law experts say the 2024 statute may conflict with the Kentucky Constitution’s language on filling statewide vacancies, as well as with how the Seventeenth Amendment allows states to structure Senate vacancy rules. That question has not yet been tested in court. For now, though, McConnell remains in office, and his staff says he is improving and continuing to work on Senate and Kentucky matters from the hospital.

3 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 7

Mitch McConnell, hospitalized for nearly a month, held recent phone calls with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso to discuss Senate business and signal he remains engaged.
Barrasso's Tuesday call lasted about 20 minutes and covered upcoming Senate work, Supreme Court developments and the Maine Senate race; Thune's call a day earlier focused on national security and was described as long and substantive.
McConnell's office has disclosed little about his condition since the June 14 hospitalization, saying only that he continues to improve and is working with staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the chamber is out.
Health speculation intensified after emergency dispatch audio from McConnell's Washington residence referenced an unconscious person and then "cardiac arrest"; his office has neither confirmed nor denied that the calls involved him.
The outreach comes with the Senate set to return next week, raising attention on whether the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican can resume his role.