Independence Day recess ended Sunday with two explosive developments within the Senate GOP: the death of Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who died Saturday night, and a much-awaited health update from former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
The latter issued a statement Sunday evening confirming that, contrary to rumors online, he was very much alive: McConnell said he’d suffered a fall on June 14 — after a childhood bout of polio — and then suffered from pneumonia after that.
He said he’s recently been moved from a hospital to a rehab center, but he’s not yet able to return to the Senate floor to vote. Rest assured, he told constituents, “I’m not taking a break from the Senate business that matters to you.”
As proof that his statement wasn’t a hoax, McConnell issued his release with a photo of himself and wife Elaine Chao, with the senator holding a copy of the July 12 Washington Post sports page.
The news that Graham, who had just returned from a meeting abroad with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had died abruptly was another stunner: Graham, a close friend of the president, was 71.
