WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was released Saturday afternoon from a physical rehabilitation center, where he had been for more than a week after a fall.
«I want to sincerely thank everyone for all the kind wishes,» McConnell, 81, said in a statement. «I’m happy to say I finished inpatient physical therapy today and I’m happy to be home.»
The statement said he would be working from home for the next few days and would return to the Senate in person «soon.»
An aide who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity declined to speculate on a specific time period. McConnell «will be consulting with his physical therapists about a date to return to the Senate…,» the aide said. «We’ll be sure to let everyone know when we get an update on a return date.»
The Republican leader stumbled and fell on March 8 after an event for the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC aligned with McConnell and the Republican leadership, at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington. He was hospitalized with a concussion and released on March 13.
McConnell then underwent a stint of physical therapy at an inpatient rehabilitation facility, according to his communications director, David Popp, where his medical team discovered he also suffered a minor rib fracture.
McConnell continued to call his fellow senators during his time in rehab as an inpatient and told fellow Republicans over the phone that he was looking forward to returning to Capitol Hill.
In 2019, McConnell underwent surgery after tripping and falling at his home in Kentucky, fracturing his shoulder.
McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and was reelected to serve a seventh term in 2020. He was the Senate Majority Leader from 2015 to 2021, when the Democrats became the majority party after the 2020 election. 2020.