McConnell health concerns stir talk of new leadership battle

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to return to the U.S. Capitol this week following a second instance of freezing up in public, as his health issues have stirred talk of whether he should step aside from leadership.

Fellow GOP Senate leaders have so far remained publicly supportive of his leadership, but other Republicans have questioned whether he should relinquish his post.

“You have to know when to leave,” Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, said in a television interview after Mr. McConnell’s second freeze up.

But Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, 68, of South Dakota said Sunday that Mr. McConnell is still “perfectly capable” of carrying out his leadership position.

“There’s a lot of folks out there who would like to see him go, but that’s because he’s a very capable leader. He’s one of these kind of guys that if you can take him out of the leadership role in advance, you might end up in a better position if you were a competitor of his,” Mr. Rounds told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” He also said that “on the Republican side, we all understand that he’s good, he’s good for our party.”

“At this stage of the game, I think he’ll continue on,” Mr. Rounds said.

Mr. McConnell, 81, was cleared to return to work by the attending physician of Congress a day after he appeared momentarily frozen while answering questions at an Aug. 30 press conference in Covington, Kentucky.

It’s the second instance this summer of Mr. McConnell struggling to talk in public and comes after his extended absence from the Senate following a concussion suffered from a fall in March. Mr. McConnell’s recovery kept him away from the Senate for nearly six weeks, which at the time triggered backroom talks about a possible plan to replace him.

Those talks faded after Mr. McConnell returned to work and as of now, not a single one of the likely contenders who might run to succeed Mr. McConnell is publicly calling on him to step down.

The list includes Minority Whip John Thune, 62, of South Dakota, who is the No. 2 Republican; GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso, 71, of Wyoming; former GOP Whip John Cornyn, 71, of Texas; Conference Vice Chair Shelley Moore Capito, 69, of West Virginia; and Conference Policy Chair Joni Ernst, 53, of Iowa.

The lawmakers spoke by phone to Mr. McConnell shortly after the Covington incident.

“They spoke, and the leader sounded like his usual self and was in good spirits,” Ryan Wrasse, a spokesman for Mr. Thune, told The Washington Times.

Mr. Cornyn said at an event in Dallas last week that he also spoke to Mr. McConnell after the incident in Covington.

“He seemed to be doing fine,” Mr. Cornyn said. “We all wish him well.”

Five GOP senators can trigger a GOP conference meeting to discuss whether there should be changes in the leadership, but not a single Republican senator has publicly called for such a meeting or suggested Mr. McConnell should step aside.

It’s likely some senators are quietly weighing the option.

Mr. McConnell is the Senate’s longest-serving GOP leader after first winning election to the position in 2007.

He faced his first leadership challenge earlier this year from Sen. Rick Scott, 70, of Florida. Mr. McConnell handily defeated Mr. Scott, but not unanimously. The vote was 37-10, indicating a sizable chunk of the conference is ready for new leadership.  

In July, Mr. McConnell froze up while answering reporters’ questions in the Capitol. He was led away but returned moments later and finished the press conference.

His quick recoveries have helped tamp down succession talk.  

Mr. Scott, who is running for a second term in the Senate, told CBS last week, “I expect he’ll continue to be the Republican leader through this term. … We’ll have another election after the 2024 elections.”

Mr. McConnell’s latest freeze-up happened after a reporter asked him if he plans to run for another term in 2026.

Mr. McConnell, first elected to the Senate in 1984, never answered the question but has said several times he has no intention of retiring before the end of his current term.

If he were to leave Congress early, a new state law requires the governor to choose a successor from the same party as the departing senator.

But Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has made no promises he’ll refrain from challenging the law in court. He’s running for reelection in November against the state’s GOP attorney general, Daniel Cameron.

In the meantime, Mr. McConnell has quickly moved to show he’s back to normal.

Republican Rep. Jim Banks posted a picture on X, formerly Twitter, showing Mr. McConnell chatting with him at his fundraiser, just hours after the freeze-up.

The House and Senate physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, attributed the Covington incident to dehydration and the continuing effects from a concussion and said he had also spoken to Mr. McConnell’s neurology team before declaring him fit for work.

Television medical pundits speculated a variety of causes for his freezing up, including lasting effects of the concussion and even later-stage Parkinson’s disease.

Mr. McConnell’s public health struggles have accelerated criticism that Washington’s leaders are too old.

A new poll showed more than three-quarters of voters believe President Biden, 80, is too old to run for a second term, while lawmakers in both parties have called for California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, to step down due to her mental and physical decline.

“No one should feel good about seeing that any more than we should feel good about seeing Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good about a lot of what’s happening or seeing Joe Biden’s decline,” Mrs. Haley said. “What I will say is, right now, the Senate is the most privileged nursing home in the country.”