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WASHINGTON – As questions swirl around Mitch McConnell’s health, the longtime Republican senator has been making lengthy phone calls in recent days to other GOP lawmakers, congressional aides told USA TODAY.
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From the hospital, McConnell, 84, spoke to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the Senate majority whip, on Tuesday, July 7. The conversation lasted roughly 20 minutes, during which they talked about upcoming Senate work, the latest Supreme Court news and the Maine Senate race, according to Barrasso spokeswoman Kate Noyes.
“Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate,” Noyes said.
The prior day, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, also chatted with McConnell. The discussion touched on national security topics and was characterized by a Thune spokesperson as long and substantive.
McConnell’s outreach will likely help quell at least some of the mounting speculation surrounding his health. After nearly a month in the hospital, his office has offered few details on what happened, saying only that he continues to improve.
“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” spokesperson David Popp said in a statement. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
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Concerns about his condition ran rampant after audio emerged from an emergency dispatch call last month to McConnell’s house.
Just before 9 a.m. on June 14, emergency responders were called to an address listed in records as the senator’s Washington, DC, residence. An initial, publicly available dispatch call indicated someone at the scene was unconscious. Another call, made several minutes later, showed someone was in “cardiac arrest.”
When asked by USA TODAY recently to comment on reporting about that audio, McConnell’s office neither confirmed nor denied the calls involved him.
The Senate returns to session next week.
Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mitch McConnell, still hospitalized, spoke with GOP colleagues by phone
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Reporting by Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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