A health scare showed Democrats Thursday how hard it may be to pass a partisan tax and spending package without any Republican support in an evenly divided Senate.
Appropriations Chairman Patrick J. Leahy broke his hip after taking a fall in his McLean, Va., home Wednesday night and underwent hip replacement surgery Thursday. The 82-year-old Vermont Democrat was “comfortably recovering” at a Washington area hospital, his office said in a statement Thursday night.
“He is expected to begin a physical therapy regimen after sufficient healing that will allow Patrick and Marcelle to begin taking their daily long walks together again,” the statement read, referring to Leahy’s wife.
