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Update, July 2, 2026, at 6:09 p.m.: This piece has been updated to reflect a new statement from Mitch McConnell’s office.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans’ 84-year-old former party leader and long-time bane of Democrats’ existence, checked into a hospital last month and has hardly been heard from since. Let’s break down what we know—and, more pointedly, don’t—about McConnell’s condition, then get into the broader issue of lawmakers not being straight about their health.

Why do we think McConnell might be really unwell?Two things happened on June 14: According to police audio unearthed this week, paramedics gave CPR to an “unconscious” person who’d experienced “cardiac arrest” at an address that matches McConnell’s D.C. home. That’s the same day that the Kentucky senator entered the hospital, where a spokesperson said he was “receiving excellent care.” About a week later, McConnell’s office said he was “still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery.” This evening, his office finally provided another update: McConnell remains hospitalized but “continues to improve.” He last voted on June 11.

Technically, we don’t know for sure that the police audio was about McConnell, though it’d be a tremendous coincidence if he happened to be hospitalized the same day that someone else in his house got CPR for cardiac arrest. McConnell’s office doesn’t seem eager to get more specific: They still........

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