Mitch McConnell, 83, Hospitalized...

Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized after experiencing what his office described as “flu-like symptoms.” The 83-year-old Kentucky senator checked himself into a hospital on Monday evening “in an abundance of caution,” his office told the Daily Beast in a statement. The former Senate majority leader missed crucial Senate votes on Monday and Tuesday, Politico reported. McConnell, the Senate’s third-oldest member, has had a string of health scares in recent years, including falling to the ground in the Capitol in October 2025 and suddenly freezing during multiple press conferences in 2023. The octogenarian, who was first elected to the Senate over 41 years ago—in 1984—stepped down as Senate Republican leader last year. He plans to retire from Congress when his current term concludes in January 2027. In February and March last year, McConnell wore a medical boot and used a wheelchair to get around after falling down a small flight of stairs in the Capitol and taking a second tumble later that day. “Senator McConnell is fine,” Popp said at the time. “The lingering effects of polio in his left leg will not disrupt his regular schedule of work.” McConnell contracted polio at the age of two, leaving a portion of his left leg paralyzed, according to BBC.