Mitch McConnell is just the latest member of the Senate to be absent for an extended period of time because of poor health.
But a charged political environment and a social media storm have intensified demands for more transparency regarding the 84-year-old’s condition, and for Mr. McConnell, whose term ends in January, to step aside if he cannot participate in the Senate for the remainder of his tenure.
“As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, a Democrat, wrote to Mr. McConnell on Monday as the senator passed his sixth week in a hospital after a fall at his home on Capitol Hill.
Few who know him believe Mr. McConnell is going anywhere. Here’s why.
Illness has sidelined many senators for long periods.
Over the decades, many senators have missed months and even years of Senate business, with some recent prominent figures such as John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, going months without voting before they both died in office, of brain cancer, at the end of storied careers.
Mr. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader for nearly 18 years, had a prolonged absence himself after a serious fall in 2023 that sidelined him for five weeks. He ultimately announced that he would not try to return as leader in 2026, followed by his decision that he would not seek re-election to an eighth term this year. He also passed on his right to chair the Appropriations Committee, a demanding job, and instead took over a subcommittee. His Senate tenure is set to end at noon on Jan. 3, 2027.
Stories of senators refusing to leave despite debilitating medical conditions are legion. Senator Karl Mundt of South Dakota was absent from the Senate for the final three years of his term after suffering a stroke in 1969, and refused calls that he resign.
Many others have been allowed substantial time to recover and return to the Senate. They include Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois, who was away for almost a full year after suffering a stroke in 2012. In another case, Democrat Tim Johnson of South Dakota was out for nine months after experiencing bleeding in the brain in December 2006. Both men were warmly welcomed back by their colleagues.
McConnell wants to leave on his own terms.
Members of the Senate are often advanced in years, since the office is usually the capstone of a political career; more than a third of current senators are 70 or older. The institution also runs on seniority, providing an incentive for members to remain as long as they can as they amass power and senatorial privilege.
At the same time, senators have historically been reluctant to share details of their health issues for fear of weakening themselves politically. And it has only been fairly recently, as voters have grown more critical of how aging lawmakers dominate Congress, that senators have faced public scrutiny about their fitness to serve.
Given Mr. McConnell’s stature and the fact that he is leaving office at the end of the year, calls for his resignation have not gone over well with his colleagues.
“Mitch was the longest serving leader in Senate history,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine. “Couldn’t we extend some grace to him? He is a survivor of childhood polio, which has made his recovery slower. But he has always been a fighter, and will be back.”
She suggested that Governor Beshear’s motives for hammering Mr. McConnell about his illness were political.
“This rush led by the governor, who must be running for president, is so unseemly and so unkind to a senator who has been such a leader for so many years,” Ms. Collins said.
John Feehery, a longtime senior congressional aide and Republican strategist, said forcing a special election to replace Mr. McConnell for a matter of months would be a waste of time and money. A general election matchup is already set to choose a successor for his full term.
Under Kentucky law, if there is a Senate vacancy more than three months before Election Day, a special election must be held to fill the seat. Democrats have stepped up their pressure on Mr. McConnell ahead of the deadline, Aug. 3.
“Mitch McConnell deserves the right to serve out the term however he sees fit,” Mr. Feehery said. “He is certainly not the first senator to have health problems which require him to miss votes and he certainly won’t be the last.”
McConnell is known for being tight-lipped, and stubborn.
Mr. McConnell is notoriously closemouthed when he deems it to be to his advantage. His absence and failure to provide detailed updates on his health outside of the written statements and photographs provided by his office have generated an outpouring of speculation about the severity of his condition on social media.
Senate colleagues, though, say they have spoken with him and received personal text messages.
In the most recent update from his office this week, the office of the Capitol physician said that doctors meet with Mr. McConnell daily but have not cleared him for a return to work or to his home.
His colleagues hope he can return to the Senate at some point, as they expect to commemorate his long and consequential Senate service before he leaves office.
Others note that it will take more than Governor Beshear’s push to force Mr. McConnell out before he is ready.
“One of Senator McConnell’s singular traits is tenacity,” said Ross K. Baker, distinguished professor emeritus of political science at Rutgers, and a longtime student of the Senate.
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