McConnell Phone Calls Counter 'Brain Dead' Claims After 3-Week Hospital Stay

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 · CNBC · Jul 7

More than three weeks after Mitch McConnell was hospitalized on June 14, GOP leaders said they spoke with him by phone in recent days, describing the 84-year-old senator as engaged and recovering.
Emergency-call audio from the day of his admission indicated responders performed CPR on a person in cardiac arrest at McConnell's Washington address, though his name is not mentioned and his office declined comment.
John Thune said he discussed national security with McConnell on Monday, while John Barrasso said a roughly 20-minute call Tuesday covered Senate races, the NDAA and Trump's intelligence nominee.
The calls pushed back on Laura Loomer's claim that a White House source told her McConnell was 'officially brain dead,' as his office continued to release only brief statements saying he is improving.