Democrats worry about McConnell’s health issues

Reply to McConnell’s Controversy with Senate Finance Committee Appropriately for a Second-Term Retake of the Senate

McConnell tried to put to rest questions about his health and political future as Senate prepares for a busy month of negotiation on federal spending.

Reporters repeatedly asked McConnell to provide specific details of what has caused two incidents where the GOP leader froze at public events in the past two months. McConnell did not answer those questions directly, instead referring reporters to a recent letter from the attending physician of the U.S. Capitol who said McConnell not suffer a seizure, stroke or movement disorder.

With a September 30 deadline to pass funding fast approaching, Republicans are frustrated by the focus. Senate appropriators are going to hold votes on three of the 12 bipartisan spending bills that were approved in committee. This is the first time in five years that the committee approved the full slate of regular funding bills and many in the Senate would prefer to focus on that.

He was given a clean bill of health after going over his tests, Kennedy said. “He indicated he’s had two of these episodes and both of them happened to be during press conferences.”

11 Republicans voted against McConnell serving a second term as Senate GOP leader. He told reporters that people had questions about McConnell’s health during the August recess.

“We’ve got a chance to take back the Senate,” Hawley said. “I just I hope that we’ll be able to be laser focused, that the Senate at least will be laser focused on on retaking the Senate.”

McConnell’s allies moved to correct the criticism with new data. The Senate Leadership Fund and One Nation said they had raised $48 million last month. Senate campaigns will be the beneficiary of that money.

Kevin Cramer said that Senate Democrats know that Mr. McConnell is the devil and a very pragmatic leader. There is no one else like that.

It’s a very sensitive situation for both sides. Mr. McConnell is not particularly keen to be caught working hand in hand with Democrats, further infuriating his far-right critics, who already see him as a charter member of the swamp and what some of them call the “uniparty” mind-set in Washington. Democrats want to be seen as not having nice things to say about Mr. McConnell, after their experiences dealing with him in a long string of confrontations.

He speaks for the mainstream Republican Party on most issues, but I worry about the extreme elements in the House that I don’t know if they are related to his health problem or not. “He can play an important role in his own ranks in helping us come up with a bipartisan solution to our challenges.”