Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is being treated for a concussion after tripping Wednesday evening at a dinner event, his spokesperson said Thursday.

McConnell's communications director David Popp said that the Kentucky Republican is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days following the incident.

What You Need To Know

  • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is being treated for a concussion after tripping Wednesday evening at a dinner event, his spokesperson said

  • McConnell, 81, was attending a private dinner in Washington on Wednesday when he tripped; he was admitted to a hospital for treatment

  • McConnell's communications director David Popp said that the Kentucky Republican is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days following the incident

  • In 2019, the GOP leader tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, suffering a shoulder fracture

"Leader McConnell tripped at a dinner event Wednesday evening and has been admitted to the hospital and is being treated for a concussion," Popp said in a statement. "He is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days of observation and treatment."

"The Leader is grateful to the medical professionals for their care and to his colleagues for their warm wishes," Popp added.

McConnell, 81, was attending a private dinner in Washington on Wednesday when he tripped. The Kentucky Republican was admitted to a hospital for treatment, spokesman Doug Andres said. The dinner was at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, formerly the Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C.

"My thoughts and prayers are with Leader McConnell, this morning with his family, with his team," Senate GOP Whip John Thune, R-S.D., McConnell's top deputy, said on the Senate floor on Thursday. "And that, along with our colleagues, I look forward to his speedy return to the United States Senate."

In 2019, the GOP leader tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, suffering a shoulder fracture. At the time, he underwent surgery to repair the fracture in his shoulder. The Senate had just started a summer recess, and he worked from home for some weeks as he recovered.

First elected in 1984, McConnell in January became the longest-serving Senate leader when the new Congress convened, breaking the previous record of 16 years.

The taciturn McConnell is often reluctant to discuss his private life. But at the start of the COVID-19 crisis he opened up about his early childhood experience fighting polio. He described how his mother insisted that he stay off his feet as a toddler and worked with him through a determined physical therapy regime. He has acknowledged some difficulty in adulthood climbing stairs.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Thursday morning that he had called McConnell and spoken with his staff “to extend my prayers and well wishes.”

"My colleagues join me in wishing Leader McConnell a speedy recovery," Schumer said at a press conference later Thursday. "We hope he returns to the Senate very soon."

The Senate, where the average age is 65, has been without several members recently due to illness.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., 53, who suffered a stroke during his campaign last year, was expected to remain out for some weeks as he received care for clinical depression. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., 89, said last week that she had been hospitalized to be treated for shingles.

The Democratic absences have proven a challenge for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is already navigating a very narrow 51-49 majority. The Republicans, as the minority party, have had an easier time with intermittent absences.