WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Republican Sen. of Kentucky says he鈥檚 been discharged from a rehabilitation center and will continue his recovery from home.
The former Senate leader was first admitted to the hospital on June 14. He that his hospitalization was the result of a fall and said he was undergoing physical therapy.
McConnell, 84, gave no specific date for his return to the Capitol, but senators are expected to soon leave Washington for the traditional August recess. Votes are unlikely for the next five weeks once they adjourn.
鈥淥n the advice of my doctors, I鈥檒l maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I鈥檒l continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” McConnell said in a statement released by his office.
McConnell had polio in his early childhood and has long acknowledged some difficulty walking and climbing stairs as an adult. The Office of the Attending Physician has said McConnell was undergoing a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation since he left the hospital, which includes multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls.
The senator is determined to finish out his seventh term, which concludes in January.
McConnell鈥檚 absence is being felt in the Senate as Republicans were unable to advance a farm bill out of committee Thursday. The committee’s chairman, Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, said he spoke with McConnell this week about the bill.
鈥淚 know how much he would have wanted to be here to advocate for Kentucky鈥檚 farmers and rural communities,鈥� Boozman said in kicking off the committee’s meeting Thursday.
But there has also been criticism that McConnell has not been transparent enough about his health. The state’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, on the senator to either prove that he is fit to continue serving after his lengthy hospital stay or resign from office.
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