{"id":1962,"date":"2026-07-08T23:12:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1962"},"modified":"2026-07-08T23:12:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:12:05","slug":"kentucky-gov-requests-mcconnell-update-the-public-on-his-health-amid-weeks-long-hospitalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1962","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Gov. Requests McConnell Update the Public on His Health Amid Weeks Long Hospitalization"},"content":{"rendered":"<script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n\r\n<br><div id=\"article-content\">\n            \n\n\n\n\n<p>Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) formally requested an update on Sen. Mitch McConnell\u2019s (R-KY) health on Wednesday amid the senator\u2019s recent and ongoing hospitalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOver the last several weeks, Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing, and ability to hold office in the United States Senate,\u201d Beshear wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/governor.ky.gov\/attachments\/20260708_McConnell-Letter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Wednesday letter<\/a> to the senator. \u201cAs Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The 84-year-old senator, who is set to retire in January 2027, was hospitalized on June 14, according to a statement from his office. Audio from a 911 call revealed first responders went to his home in Washington, D.C. on that day, where a person was found \u201cunconscious\u201d after suffering \u201ccardiac arrest,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/paramedics-responded-cardiac-arrest-mcconnells-home-day-hospitalizatio-rcna352660\" target=\"_blank\">several<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/punchbowl.news\/archive\/7126-am\/card\/7\/#group-7\" target=\"_blank\">reports<\/a>. Since then he has missed many floor votes.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cAs public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent. I believe this requires clear communication about one\u2019s ability to serve,\u201d Beshear added in his letter.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>McConnell has experienced numerous health issues and incidents over the past few years, including multiple public falls and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/mitch-mcconnell-freezes-up-during-news-conference-for-2nd-time-this-summer\" target=\"_blank\">freezes<\/a>. In February, he was hospitalized for eight days due to \u201cflu-like symptoms.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Kentucky Republicans in the state legislature passed a bill in 2024 that stripped Beshear of his powers to autonomously fill any vacancies for the state\u2019s U.S. Senate seats. Beshear vetoed that legislation but was overruled by the GOP-controlled state legislature. If McConnell vacates his seat, the governor will have to hold a speedy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlky.com\/article\/kentucky-senate-vacancy-law\/71857701\" target=\"_blank\">special election<\/a> to fill that vacancy. If the vacancy happens within 56 days of an election and there is not enough time to hold one, the seat would remain vacant until the next regular election. The race for McConnell\u2019s seat will take place during the general election this fall, meaning the cutoff date requiring a special election would be early September.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Amid the widespread speculation about McConnell\u2019s health (and the wild online conspiracy theories that have emerged in the wake of little transparency from his office), Republican lawmakers have been making public statements about their conversations with the Kentucky senator.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/07\/us\/politics\/mitch-mcconnell-hospital-thune-barrasso.html\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> he had a \u201clengthy and substantive conversation\u201d with McConnell earlier this week. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) also put out\u00a0 a statement saying he spoke with McConnell on the phone for \u201croughly 20 minutes,\u201d adding that he \u201cwas fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>A former McConnell adviser and CNN commentator Scott Jennings also <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ScottJenningsKY\/status\/2074537046752845872\" target=\"_blank\">posted on social media<\/a> saying they talked \u201cfor just shy of 20 minutes\u201d about various topics.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) poked fun at fellow Republicans for using the same 20 minutes time reference in all of their public remarks about their conversations with McConnell.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:html -->\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I spoke to McConnell for about 20 minutes this morning.<\/p><p>He said we should end the war with Iran, quit giving aid to Israel, stop spying on Americans without a warrant, and he\u2019s really sorry about how my primary turned out.<\/p>\u2014 Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepThomasMassie\/status\/2074629288544854434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">July 7, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote> \n<!-- \/wp:html -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>On Tuesday, McConnell\u2019s office also chimed in, saying that \u201cthe senator continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->          <\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n        appId: \"101800829865996\",\n        xfbml: true,\n        version: ' v2.6'\n      });\n      window.fbAsyncInit.__didInit = true;\n    };\n    (function(d, s, id) {\n      var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n      if (d.getElementById(id)) {\n        return;\n      }\n      js = d.createElement(s);\n      js.id = id;\n      js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n      fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n    }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n  <\/script>\r\n<br><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) formally requested an update on Sen. Mitch McConnell\u2019s (R-KY) health on Wednesday amid the senator\u2019s recent and ongoing hospitalization. \u201cOver the last several weeks, Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing, and ability to hold office in the United States Senate,\u201d Beshear wrote&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2272436444.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}