FRANKFORT — Following reports about the hospitalization of longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers said he expects McConnell to be “back at it next week.”
A spokesperson for McConnell had said Wednesday that the U.S. senator had checked himself into a hospital out of caution “after experiencing flu-like symptoms over the weekend.”
“His prognosis is positive and he is grateful for the excellent care he is receiving,” the statement said. “He is in regular contact with his staff and looks forward to returning to Senate business.”Republican Senate President Robert Stivers speaks to reporters after the Senate adjourns. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
Stivers, a Manchester Republican, said on the state Senate floor Wednesday afternoon McConnell had been “out texting and calling from a hospital bed.” Stivers added that McConnell had sent him a message about federal funding going to Kentucky in a package signed by President Donald Trump Tuesday.
According to press releases from McConnell’s office, the legislation included $70 million for Kentucky higher education institutions and health facilities; $117 million for airports, highways, and economic development projects; and $1.7 billion for the defense industrial base in the state.
Stivers said it was likely the last time McConnell will influence a federal budget as he is not seeking reelection this year.
“He’s been doing this for 40 years, and this is his last time. I do not know nor will I ever know that I will see anybody — Republican or Democrat — that will be as influential for this state as Addison Mitchell McConnell has been over the last 40 years,” Stivers said. “I cannot think of an individual in this century or the past century that has been a person that has been as influential as him.”
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McKenna Horsley covers state politics for the Kentucky Lantern. She previously worked for newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia, and Frankfort, Kentucky. She is from northeastern Kentucky.
