Mitch McConnell returns to the Senate floor 92 days after his fall

Senator Mitch McConnell returned to the U.S. Senate on Monday for the first time since 11 June, ending a 92-day absence that began with a fall at his Capitol Hill home.

The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican and former party leader arrived in a wheelchair for an evening vote on a federal appeals court nominee. Senators came over to shake his hand when he was wheeled onto the floor. It was the first time he had been seen in public since he entered hospital.

"Today, I'll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June," he said in a statement. "I'm really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues." To reporters he added, "After two years, two decades, actually, of dodging your questions, I wasn't sure how many of you would be here today." He also said it was time to get back to work.

What his office has said about the summer

McConnell fell at home on 14 June and was taken by ambulance to George Washington University Hospital. His office later said he developed pneumonia and spent weeks in rehabilitation. He was discharged on 6 August to continue recovery at home. Staff released photographs and statements in his name during that period. They did not produce him in public.

In Monday's statement he wrote that recovery had been "a long and often frustrating process" and that "the lingering effects of childhood polio haven't made it any easier." He said he was "still not quite back to 100%" and had told Majority Leader John Thune that he would keep up physical therapy and try to be present for tough votes when the conference needed him.

CNBC reported that the June fall briefly left him unconscious. Politico said Republican colleagues had expected him back this week. Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, who sits with McConnell on Agriculture and Appropriations, told reporters he expected McConnell for a Wednesday Agriculture Committee vote on the farm bill. That bill stalled earlier in the summer while McConnell was away. Three people familiar with the planning told Politico that McConnell's staff had told senior Republicans he would attend that session.

Why one vote still moves the chamber

McConnell is no longer Republican leader. He remains a vote in a Senate that has little spare margin, and a member of committees that write farm and spending bills. His last term ends in January. The summer's silence created a practical problem as well as a political one. A farm bill markup that needed him did not happen. A nominee vote on Monday did.

Thune had told a South Dakota station earlier this month that he hoped to have McConnell voting again soon. Representative James Comer of Kentucky had said he expected a return when the Senate came back from its five-week recess, based on conversations with McConnell's staff rather than with McConnell.

The comparison that Senate reporters reached for is familiar. Other senators have missed long stretches at the end of a career. McCain did not vote in his final eight months. The difference here is that McConnell says he intends to be present for the votes that are close. That is a narrower claim than a full return to the schedule he kept as leader. It is also a clearer one than the statements issued from home in July and August.

What Wednesday will show

If he attends the Agriculture panel, the farm bill file moves. If he does not, Monday's appearance stays a single floor vote after a summer of absence. Either way the chamber has now seen him. The questions about whether he would come back before January have an answer. The questions about how often he can come back will be answered by the roll, not by a statement.