09/16/2026
Mitch McConnell has now returned to the Senate after a three-month absence, arriving at the Capitol on September 15, 2026, following a fall at his Washington home on June 14 that left him briefly unconscious.
The Kentucky Republican, 84, was hospitalized, transferred to a rehabilitation facility, and discharged on August 6 to continue recovering at home. Doctors ruled out a stroke, heart attack and major fractures but said lingering effects of childhood polio, along with a bout of pneumonia, complicated his recovery.
Throughout the absence, McConnell continued drawing his full Senate salary of $174,000 a year, roughly $476 a day, with no cap on how long paid leave can last for members of Congress.
His voting record on the issue has drawn renewed scrutiny. Fact-checkers confirmed McConnell voted against or blocked sick leave measures in 1993, 2015, 2020 and 2022. In 1993 he opposed the Family and Medical Leave Act. In 2015 he voted against a paid sick leave amendment tied to a budget resolution. As majority leader in 2020, he blocked an effort to extend paid family and sick leave benefits during the pandemic. In 2022 he voted against guaranteeing freight rail workers seven days of paid sick leave.
Congress has no formal paid sick leave policy of its own. Members simply keep receiving their salary indefinitely while absent, with no requirement to prove they are working.
Upon returning, McConnell said his “recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier.” He added that he was “still not quite back to 100%.”