The Senate’s recent health fears underscore the age of several U.S. political leaders after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., fell last week in Washington, DC.
McConnell, 81, fell while dining Wednesday night and was hospitalized, with his spokesman saying the senator was being treated for a concussion.
The fall attracted opponents who attacked the injured senator after the fall.
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MCCONNELL IS TREATED FOR A POST-FALL RECOVERY
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee raise to argue against the “For the People Act,” which would expand voting access and other voting reforms, at the Capitol, May 11, 2021 . (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
On Monday afternoon, McConnell spokesman David Popp said the senator’s recovery from his concussion is “going well” and that he has been “released from the hospital” but is on his way to “an inpatient rehab facility before returning home.” “.
“During treatment this weekend, the leader’s medical team discovered that he also suffered a minor rib fracture on Wednesday for which he is also being treated,” Popp said.
“The leader and secretary (Elaine) Chao are very grateful for the skilled medical care, prayers and kindness they have received,” he added. Chao is McConnell’s wife.
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McConnell’s opponents called for the senator to retire after his fall.
“Mitch McConnell is not fit to lead the Senate GOP. He is working against everything America First, Trump Republicans believe in. He also continues to lie about January 6,” wrote Alex Brueesewitz, CEO of the consulting firm X Strategies.
“I hope he recovers from his injuries, because I don’t wish anyone any harm, but it’s time for him to retire,” Brüesewitz continued.
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At 80 years old, President Biden is the oldest president in history. His predecessor, Donald Trump, is 76 years old. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
McConnell’s fall came just under four years after he broke his shoulder following another fall at his Louisville home in August 2019.
As a child, the senator was treated for polio, and has since admitted that he had difficulty climbing stairs in adulthood. However, during an interview with The Associated Press in April 2020, he credited his mother for instilling in him “tenacity, hard work and not giving up” before he was 4 years old, saying she was “determined to see me walk again,” adding that she had been “a guiding principle in how I live my life.
While McConnell’s recovery is “progressing well”, the issue of age and fitness of politicians in Congress and the White House has been raised on social media.
UNITED STATES – NOVEMBER 15: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leaves the Republican Senate luncheon before telling reporters he had the votes to remain leader on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., challenges him for the post. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The US government is full of experienced leaders. Sometimes that experience is earned over time.
Outside of the presidency, a person can continue to serve in federal office as long as they are re-elected.
This practice has led to calls for term limits by federal politicians, as several eighties still serve in seats of power – including in the West Wing. Republican presidential nominee Nikki Haley recently caused a stir when she called last month for a universal rule requiring politicians over 75 to take “mental competency tests” before running for office.
“In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire,” Haley said. “We have term limits for Congress and mandatory mental competence tests for politicians over 75.”
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pictured above, clocks in at 81 years old. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden is the oldest president in history at 80 years old. His predecessor, Donald Trump, is 76 years old.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre has repeatedly defended Biden amid questions about his age.
“We get this question a lot, as you all know,” said Jean Pierre last month. “The president always says this, and that’s watching him.”
“And if you watch him, you’ll see that he has a grueling schedule that he keeps up that sometimes some of us can’t keep up with,” she continued.
“This is a president who works in a grueling way day in and day out, with a grueling schedule, and delivers,” added Jean Pierre, who claimed Biden’s first two years in office as “one of the most historic presidencies in his first two years’ than ‘almost any other president’.
Retiring California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein is the oldest member of Congress at 89, while Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is very close, several months younger than Feinstein.
Feinstein retires after a long career in the Senate, but her final term in the Senate raises concerns about her mental acuity.
Last month, Feinstein appeared oblivious to her own retirement announcement, telling a group of reporters at the Capitol that she hadn’t made up her mind about her future, even though she had announced just hours before that she wouldn’t be seeking in 2024. reelection.
However, Grassley is big on physical fitness and regularly posts online about his workouts. The Republican from Iowa also came in one push up competition with Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a former Army ranger, in 2021.
The Iowa senator completed 22 pushups against his Arkansas colleague.
Taylor Foy, Grassley’s spokesperson, told Fox News Digital that the senator “has one of the most active schedules in the Senate, arriving at the office at 6 a.m. every morning and not missing a vote in decades, with the exception of COVID quarantine. “
He also maintains an active and successful legislative record, author 50 percent of the bills passed this congressFoy continued.
A Grassley spokesperson also told Fox News Digital that Grassley holds question and answer meetings each year in each of Iowa’s 99 counties and pointed to the senator’s 12-point margin for re-election as evidence of Iowans’ confidence in him.
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., clocks in at 81 years old. At 79, Senator Ben Cardin is the second-oldest Democrat in the Senate.
The average age of the Senate, according to the 118th Congress, is 64 years Tax Note. com.
California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein is the oldest member of Congress at 89 years old. (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images)
In the House, the median age is 57, with the oldest member, Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., at 86 years old. Washington, DC, Congressman Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat, is the second oldest at 85.
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In third place is Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., the Dean of the House, who is 85 years old and serving his 22nd term. The second-oldest Republican in the House is Texas Rep. John Carter, who is 81 years old.
In addition, former House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina is 82, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California is 82 years old, and former House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer is 83.
Kyle Morris, Brandon Gillespie, Anders Hagstrom and Louis Casiano of Fox News Digital contributed to the reporting.
Houston Keene is a political writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @HoustonKeene
