Democratic senator Ben Ray Lujan is in hospital in his home state of New Mexico after suffering a stroke, his office has said.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Lujan’s chief of staff Carlos Sanchez said the first-term senator checked himself into Christus St Vincent Regional Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday after “experiencing dizziness and fatigue”.
After being transferred to University of New Mexico hospital in Albuquerque for “further evaluation,” the senator “was found to have suffered a stroke in the cerebellum,” the part of the brain which controls balance.
According to Mr Sanchez, the senator subsequently underwent a procedure known as “decompressive surgery”.
Such a surgical procedure is meant to ease swelling in the brain and usually requires a piece of bone from the skull to be temporarily removed.
Mr Sanchez said Senator Lujan was currently “resting comfortably” and is “expected to make a full recovery”.
“At this time, he and his family would appreciate their privacy, and ask for your continued prayers and well wishes,” he added.
Mr Lujan was sworn in as a senator in January 2021 and previously represented New Mexico’s third congressional district.
Because the 100-member senate is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, Mr Lujan’s absence from Washington due to his hospitalisation could delay efforts to confirm a successor to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
While it is unclear how long Mr Lujan will be absent from Washington, it’s possible that months could go by before he is well enough to return. After then-Illinois senator Mark Kirk suffered a stroke and underwent a similar procedure in May 2012, he did not return to the Capitol until the start of the 113th Congress on 3 January 2013.
If Mr Lujan were to resign or subsequently die from his condition, his death or resignation would not imperil Democratic control of the upper chamber because his replacement would be selected by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is not related to the senator.
