McConnell working from home after fall at Capitol, office says

Washington — Sen. Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican leader in the Senate, is working from home Thursday after he fell at his office in the Capitol and suffered minor injuries, a McConnell spokesman said. 

Although McConnell's office said Tuesday he was cleared to resume his schedule, the Kentucky Republican is experiencing lingering effects from the fall. On Thursday, a McConnell spokesman said the leader is "experiencing leg stiffness and will work from home today." 

The incident took place Tuesday afternoon, following a lunch with fellow Senate Republicans. 

"Leader McConnell tripped following lunch," a McConnell spokesman said Tuesday. "He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist. He has been cleared to resume his schedule."

The 82-year-old senator is set to step aside from his leadership role next month when the new Congress convenes after 18 years at the helm of the Senate Republicans, clearing the way for Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to take the reins as the GOP assumes the majority. 

On Tuesday, Thune said McConnell was "fine" and referred further questions to McConnell's staff. Medical personnel were seen leaving McConnell's office, and the senator was spotted with a brace on his wrist and a bandage under his eye later in the day, telling reporters he was feeling "good."

This isn't the first recent health scare that McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, has had in public. 

McConnell was hospitalized in March 2023 after a fall that left him with a concussion. McConnell was attending a private dinner when he tripped, and he was in the hospital for multiple days before completing in-patient rehab.

Later in 2023, McConnell appeared to freeze in two separate instances that stirred concerns about his overall health. But McConnell and his team dismissed the incidents as isolated, and he told "Face the Nation" in October 2023 that he was "completely recovered."