An attending physician of Congress appears to have cleared Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and said he is able to return to his schedule after he appeared to freeze during a news briefing Wednesday.
“I have consulted with Leader McConnell and conferred with his neurology team,” Dr. Brian Monahan, said in a statement Thursday obtained by the Washington Post. “After evaluating yesterday’s incident, I have informed Leader McConnell that he is medically clear to continue with his schedule as planned.”
“Occasional lightheadedness is not uncommon in concussion recovery and can also be expected as a result of dehydration,” Monahan said, according to The Associated Press.
According to the AP, the Senate is expected to convene next week after a break in August.
President Joe Biden told reporters during a briefing on Hurricane Idalia Thursday that he spoke earlier in the day with McConnell, according to CNN.
“You know, he was his old self on the telephone, and having a little understanding of dealing with neurosurgeons and people,” Biden said, according to CNN. “One of the leading women on my staff’s husband is a neurosurgeon as well. It’s not at all unusual to have a response … when you got a severe concussion, it’s part of recovery. And so I’m confident he’s going to be back to his old self.”
McConnell, 81, appeared to freeze briefly and was not able to answer a reporter’s question during an event Wednesday in Kentucky, according to The Associated Press. It is the second similar episode he had over the last few weeks with the last one happening in Washington.
McConnell has served as GOP leader for 16 years which is the longest of any Senate leader in history, according to CNN. He has made it clear that he plans to continue working until the end of the 118th Congress which is at the end of next year.
The incident at the US Capitol at the end of July and the latest incident has raised questions about his future in the Senate, according to CNN.
In March, McConnell suffered a concussion and a rib fracture when he tripped and fell at a hotel in Washington, D.C. He underwent physical therapy for weeks before returning to work in the Senate in mid-April, Bloomberg News reported.
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