Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 84, was admitted to a hospital in Washington, D.C., on Sunday morning. A spokesperson for the senator confirmed the hospitalization in a brief statement but provided no details on the reason for admission or his current condition.
“Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care,” McConnell spokesman David Popp said in a statement.
Neighbors reported seeing McConnell on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance around 9 a.m. Eastern Time outside his Washington home. No further medical updates on the longtime senator’s condition have been provided outside those provided by McConnell’s office.
McConnell, who served as Senate Republican leader until 2024 and now chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, had been active in recent weeks, including participating in hearings and public events.
Sunday’s hospitalization marks the latest in a series of health-related incidents for the longtime senator, who announced in 2025 that he would not seek reelection and plans to retire at the end of his term in early 2027. Back in February, McConnell was hospitalized for flu-like symptoms. He checked himself in on a Monday evening “in an abundance of caution” after experiencing symptoms over the weekend, his office said in a statement at the time.
He was discharged after approximately one week and worked remotely for the remainder of that Senate week.
McConnell has long managed complications from childhood polio, which he contracted at age two in 1944. The illness left partial paralysis in his left leg, affecting his gait and contributing to mobility challenges over the decades.
On March 8, 2023, he fell at a dinner event in Washington, D.C., which left him with a concussion and a fractured rib. The senator was hospitalized for several days and spent time in inpatient rehabilitation, which forced him to moss nearly six weeks of Senate sessions.
Later in 2023, McConnell had two notable “freezing episodes.” On July 26 of that year, he stopped speaking mid-sentence and stared blankly for about 20 seconds while speaking during a press conference. Aides ultimately intervened and assisted him, while McConnell later returned to the session and stated that he was fine.
A similar incident occurred just weeks later at an event in Kentucky, where he froze for approximately 30 seconds while answering questions from reporters. Aides approached him, and one noted they “needed a minute.”
Following these incidents, the Capitol attending physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, medically cleared McConnell, stating there was no evidence of a seizure disorder, stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or movement disorder like Parkinson’s disease. The physician further suggested that the episodes could be linked to the earlier concussion or dehydration.
In February 2025, he fell twice on the same day in the Capitol, once on stairs near the Senate chamber and another during a Republican conference lunch. This led to him being escorted out in a wheelchair as a precaution.
Additionally, on October 16, 2025, McConnell tripped and fell ahead of a Capitol vote while taking a question on immigration enforcement. Staffers chalked the incident up to effects of polio and said the senator was otherwise doing well.
