{"id":4848,"date":"2026-07-24T15:39:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=4848"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:39:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:39:58","slug":"even-senior-dems-are-now-apologists-for-mitch-mcconnells-disappearance-makes-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=4848","title":{"rendered":"Even senior Dems are now apologists for Mitch McConnell’s disappearance: ‘Makes sense’"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 It\u2019s now been more than 40 days since Sen. Mitch McConnell\u2019s given any legislative signs of life \u2014 at least believable enough ones to satiate his online critics, many of his Kentucky constituents and governor \u2014 but that\u2019s par for the course in the senior-friendly confines of the U.S. Senate.<\/p>

Read more \u2018Tone deaf\u2019 Trump hands Congress over to Democrats with \u2018nutter-butter\u2019 moves: data guru<\/a><\/p>

\u201cWhat do you make of his extended absence?\u201d Raw Story asked the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate. <\/p>

\u201cHe explained it,\u201d Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), an octogenarian like McConnell, told Raw Story. \u201cFor me, this makes sense.\u201d<\/p>

Welcome to the United States Senate, where an elderly colleague falling, being rendered \u201cbriefly unconscious\u201d \u2014 according to the paper-thin statement McConnell\u2019s staff was pressured into releasing in recent weeks \u2014 and then effectively disappearing for well over a month has been normalized. <\/p>

It\u2019s nothing new. <\/p>

In the past year, the former Senate majority leader slowly started relying on his security detail to keep him steady. Then the agents became McConnell\u2019s personal crutches, before it became routine to see him pushed through the Capitol\u2019s marble halls in a wheelchair.<\/p>

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n Mitch McConnell’s security detail help him into the underground tram car that whisks through the Capitol on Feb 20, 2025. (Photo: Matt Laslo for Raw Story)<\/small><\/p>

<\/p>

While many of McConnell\u2019s fellow senators continue to shrug off his extended absence, it\u2019s a different story with lawmakers on the other side of the Capitol.<\/p>

\u201cIf he can’t give us an update, he should resign. Absolutely,\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told congressional reporters Thursday. \u201cIt’s been very clear to people across Kentucky that his update was not sufficient.\u201d<\/p>

Sufficient or not, McConnell\u2019s absence has hardly upended today\u2019s United States Senate, even if he\u2019s held up the appointments of some of President Donald Trump\u2019s nominees, like acting-Attorney General Todd Blanche.<\/p>

McConnell\u2019s refusal to budge<\/strong><\/p>

Two years ago, McConnell stepped aside and passed his leadership suite and title to the current Senate majority leader, John Thune (R-SD). Publicly, at least. <\/p>

Privately \u2014 or at least far away from cable news cameras \u2014 McConnell\u2019s achieved almost omnipresent status in the Senate from his perch as chair of the little-known, if seemingly all-powerful, Committee on Rules and Administration.<\/p>

Filibuster reform? If a lawmaker, like President Donald Trump, wants to upend long-standing Senate precedent and lower the threshold to pass legislation from 60 senators to a simple majority of 51, you\u2019ve got to go through McConnell. <\/p>

McConnell\u2019s refused to budge. <\/p>

Federal election reform? <\/p>

Quietly stymied by McConnell. Or, at the very least, his team. <\/p>

The Library of Congress? <\/p>

Last spring, before Trump\u2019s former personal lawyer was tapped to be attorney general, Todd Blanche was put forward to be the nation\u2019s top librarian. That was a step too far even for this Republican-controlled Congress, especially for McConnell who, according to the Washington Post, \u201cquietly<\/u>\u201d worked in the shadows to derail the executive branch\u2019s incursion into long-established legislative branch turf. <\/p>

Contested Senate elections? <\/p>

Talk to McConnell. <\/p>

Even the Smithsonian Institution and its 21 museums, 14 research centers, 21 libraries, one National Zoo and the roughly 157 million items entrusted to its care quietly falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and its chair, Mitch McConnell. <\/p>

McConnell may not be majority leader anymore, but that doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s no longer one of the most powerful people in the nation. <\/p>

In recent years, McConnell\u2019s, basically, transitioned to GOP puppet master, and current Senate leaders know it. <\/p>

\u201cWhen’s the last time you talked to McConnell?\u201d Raw Story asked the Senate Republican whip.<\/p>

\u201cLast week,\u201d Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) told Raw Story. \u201cOr a week before.\u201d <\/p>

\u201cIs he doing alright?\u201d Raw Story inquired. <\/p>

\u201cCompletely in control of all the facts,\u201d Barrasso continued. \u201cAnd the facts that I hadn’t even known.\u201d <\/p>

Barrasso didn\u2019t recount any of those new facts, even as he kissed what\u2019s left of McConnell\u2019s proverbial ring. <\/p>

Kentucky\u2019s other U.S. senator, libertarian-leaning Rand Paul, has never been counted as an ally of McConnell. If anything, over his three terms in the Senate, he\u2019s been a proud wrench in McConnell and other establishment Republicans\u2019 works. <\/p>

Read more War widow says Trump\u2019s tactics tormented her husband: \u2018Wanted to come home so bad\u2019<\/a><\/p>

But when it comes to Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) telling<\/u> Katie Couric he\u2019s \u201cgotten two calls from different agencies, not state agencies, suggesting he’d passed,” Paul scoffs. <\/p>

\u201cAll I know is what’s been reported publicly,\u201d Paul said. <\/p>

\u201cDo you think the governor is playing politics with his health?\u201d Raw Story pressed. <\/p>

\u201cOf course,\u201d Paul said. <\/p>

It\u2019s not just Republicans. It\u2019s the Senate. <\/p>

“My staff talk to the staff\u201d <\/strong><\/p>

What\u2019s it take to be a senator anyway? On the campaign trail, contemporary politicians employ cunning teams, cutting comms operations and stout fundraising machines. <\/p>

But, in contemporary Washington, each senator\u2019s propped up by a like-minded staff, which is why McConnell\u2019s extended absence hasn\u2019t sent massive ripples through the chamber. <\/p>

\u201cHave you had any talks with McConnell?\u201d Raw Story asked the senator’s counterpart, the top Democrat on the Rules and Administration Committee. <\/p>

\u201cNo,\u201d Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) told Raw Story. <\/p>

\u201cDo you know what’s up with his health?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNo,\u201d Padilla said, \u201cMy staff talk to the staff. I haven’t talked to them.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIs the committee running at all?\u201d Raw Story pressed. <\/p>

\u201cYeah,\u201d Padilla said. <\/p>

\u201cJust staff to staff?\u201d Raw Story asked. <\/p>

\u201cYeah,\u201d Padilla said. <\/p>

Padilla\u2019s far from alone. <\/p>

\u201cI don’t work with his office too much,\u201d Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) told Raw Story. <\/p>

\u201cYeah?\u201d Raw Story asked. \u201cBut aren’t you on the committee?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cCommittee members can vote by proxy,\u201d Lujan said matter-of-factly. <\/p>

\u201cI guess this is how the U.S. Senate is?\u201d Raw Story asked. <\/p>

Lujan shrugged. <\/p>

\u201cRepublicans are having a hard time\u201d <\/strong><\/p>

Contemporary Senate practice aside, McConnell\u2019s absence is being felt, if on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue. <\/p>

\u201c[Acting Attorney General Todd] Blanche\u2019s nomination has been held up, because there weren’t enough votes,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cSo yeah, Republicans are having a hard time.\u201d<\/p>

Medical emergencies are nothing new to Lujan who suffered a stroke at 49, but who also tried to be as transparent as possible through his recovery. <\/p>

\u201cSometimes people need to get better,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cWhen I had my stroke, I was forthright with people about what happened to me. We had a press conference within days and I shared with folks where I was.\u201d<\/p>

While Lujan doesn\u2019t defend McConnell, he does sympathize with his colleagues\u2019 health issues. <\/p>

\u201cI was criticized for not having a press conference for three days, but we were waiting for the doctors to tell me what was going on so we could share that with everyone,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cAnd then when I did a press conference, I had my doctors with me, and they were explaining the technical aspects of it as well to all the people back home and I think we owe that to people.\u201d<\/p>

Lujan isn\u2019t giving McConnell and his team a pass for their old school, close-lipped comms strategy. <\/p>

\u201cI mean, everyone has to make their own decisions,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cBut people should have to share information, you know?\u201d <\/p>

The patience of Senate Democrats is lost on their counterparts on the other side of the Capitol.<\/p>

\u201cWe have a responsibility to the American people\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

Ocasio-Cortez isn\u2019t extending McConnell much grace. She says the senior Kentucky senator owes it to his voters and the nation to be more forward than merely holding up a copy of the newspaper.<\/p>

\u201cI don’t know if he has a conversation with a journalist, I don’t know if he has a conversation with the governor, I don’t know what his staff is doing, but we have a responsibility to the American people,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said. <\/p>

With razor-thin margins on both sides of the Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez says McConnell and his team owe America more than their lackluster proof of life attempts thus far. <\/p>

\u201cWe’re seeing, increasingly, these votes are being decided by a one or two vote margin, and if you’re not capable of doing the job presently, we need to know if you’re capable of doing the job for the foreseeable future,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said. \u201cAnd that, I think, is tremendously important.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Trump\u2019s new \u2018Freedom Fuel\u2019 spooks the \u2018drill, baby, drill\u2019 crowd<\/a><\/p>