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As questions persist about Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s condition, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., issued a blistering rebuke about his team’s handling of the crisis, reminding them of their “obligation to your constituents.”
The 84-year-old former Senate majority leader has been absent from the upper chamber for over a month now after a fall at his home left him hospitalized. His absence, coupled with the sudden death of late Sen. Lindsey Graham, leaves Senate Republicans down two crucial votes amid a dead sprint to wrap up key parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Hawley, a conservative populist, said he wishes McConnell and his family well and hopes for a recovery.
At the same time, however, Hawley said that “at a certain point you do have an obligation to your constituents and the country to tell them what’s going on.”
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“To be down a vote,” Hawley continued, “We’ve got a slim majority; it’s not easy.”
While Hawley said he would “defer” to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on how to handle McConnell’s situation, he noted that the lack of GOP votes is hurting priorities like the voter integrity measure, the SAVE America Act.
“I just hear a lot from leadership that, ‘Well, we don’t have the votes for this.’ Like the voter I.D., we don’t have the votes for that. Well, we might want to do something about that,” he said.
Hawley also said that he too has been “totally in the dark” about McConnell’s condition and said, “I never had any idea about any of his health stuff.”
“I hope he recovers, but I also hope that they get the transparency out there to help people know what the situation is,” he said.
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Asked whether he believes McConnell’s condition evidences a need for age limits to serve in office, Hawley quickly shot back, “Well, I’m a term-limit guy, so I’m all for that.”
“Nothing against colleagues who are older,” he continued. He pointed to 92-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, saying, “Chuck is sharp as a tack and spry and all that stuff.”
“But I do think there needs to be term limits. People just come here and stay forever. And I don’t think it’s what the founders intended; I don’t think it’s what people want. So, I’ve always been a big proponent of a constitutional amendment for term limits.”
McConnell is completing his seventh term in the Senate. He was first elected to the chamber in 1984. This June, he was hospitalized after a fall in his Washington, D.C., home. He later developed pneumonia while in the hospital.
After an extended period of silence, McConnell’s issued an open letter to Kentuckians in which the senator addressed his prolonged absence. McConnell attributed his fall to mobility issues left from his childhood fight with polio.
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He acknowledged that at the advice of his doctors, he “won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet.”
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However, McConnell emphasized, “I have every intention of finishing the job you elected me to do” and said, “I’ll keep working hard to get back on the Senate floor as soon as possible.”
He also pledged to keep his constituents updated on the progress of his recovery.