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Thune elected Senate Republican leader
John Thune elected Senate Republican leader as Mitch McConnell steps down
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Washington — Sen. Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican leader in the Senate, suffered a fall on Capitol Hill after a lunch with colleagues and suffered minor injuries, his office said Tuesday.”Leader McConnell tripped following lunch. He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist. He has been cleared to resume his schedule,” a McConnell spokesman said.The 82-year-old Kentucky Republican is set to step aside from his leadership role next month when the new Congress convenes, clearing the way for Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to take the reins as the GOP assumes the majority. 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 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.”
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Kathryn Watson
Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
