Mitch McConnell, the former leader of the Republican Senate caucus, was a no-show on Monday as the chamber returned from its August recess, extending his summer-long, mystery-shrouded absence from his elected post.
The 84-year-old Kentucky senator, who has not reported for duty since he suffered a fall at his Washington, D.C. home on June 14, remained in the hospital and later a rehab center for weeks before he was discharged in early August. During that time, he faced sharp criticism, including from his state’s Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, for grudgingly revealing scant details about his condition, largely in response to reporting, while questions about his illness and ability to serve intensified.
