MITCH MCCONNELL RETURNS TO SENATE — HE JUST CAST THE TIE BREAKING VOTE
McConnell Returns To Senate, Casts Tie-Breaking Vote
Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate on Monday after nearly three months away from Capitol Hill, where he was recovering from a serious fall at home.
The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican immediately resumed official duties by casting his first Senate vote since June 11.
McConnell voted in favor of advancing Matthew R. Byrne’s nomination to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio.
The cloture motion passed by the narrowest possible margin, 47-46, with seven senators not voting.
“Time to get back to work, finish the job of this Congress,” McConnell told reporters before heading toward the Senate chamber.
An aide pushed McConnell through the Capitol’s Ohio Clock Corridor in a wheelchair as reporters gathered for his first public appearance in months.
McConnell appeared upbeat while acknowledging that his recovery remains incomplete.
In a statement released by his office, McConnell said the process had been “long and often frustrating” and complicated by lingering effects from childhood polio.
“I’m still not quite back to 100 percent,” McConnell said.
He added that he would continue physical therapy while trying to be present for important votes when Republicans need him.
McConnell was hospitalized June 14 after falling at his Washington home and briefly losing consciousness.
His office later announced that he had been discharged from rehabilitation in early August and would continue recovering at home.
The long absence prompted weeks of speculation because McConnell remained largely out of public view and his office provided only limited updates about his condition.
He had not cast an in-person Senate vote since June 11 before Monday’s return.
McConnell joked with reporters about the attention surrounding his comeback after decades of frequently avoiding their questions.
“After two years, two decades, actually, of dodging your questions, I wasn’t sure how many of you would be here today,” he said.
McConnell also outlined several issues he intends to work on during the closing months of his final Senate term.
He specifically cited the farm bill as important to Kentucky and reiterated his interest in NATO and continued U.S. support for Ukraine.
His return could matter immediately for Republicans on several pieces of legislation because narrow committee margins have made individual GOP votes important.
The farm bill stalled in the Senate Agriculture Committee last month after Democrats opposed the measure amid disagreements over changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Oh look McConnell voted tonight and was the deciding vote to move ahead with one of Trump’s judicial nominees. https://t.co/XrDp8YOQ62
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) September 14, 2026
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Mitch McConnell has resurfaced, 3 months after disappearing from public view. https://t.co/WBeMp32VeM
🎥: @hicharliecotton pic.twitter.com/fHVhJ89DFe
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 14, 2026
Republican leaders are expected to make another attempt to move the legislation forward.
McConnell’s presence could also affect consideration of spending bills in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The former Republican leader has represented Kentucky in the Senate since 1985 and served as his party’s Senate leader for a record 18 years.
He stepped down from leadership in 2024 and was succeeded by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
McConnell has already announced that he will not seek another term when his current one expires in January.
His extended medical absence had raised questions about whether he would return before leaving office.
Monday’s appearance answered that question, although McConnell made clear that he is still recovering and intends to continue treatment while serving out the remainder of his term.
The Senate’s official roll call confirms that McConnell was present for the 47-46 Byrne vote.
For McConnell, the message on his first day back was simple: his recovery is not finished, but neither is his Senate career.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Letitia 'No One's Above the Law' James Just Got Sued And You Won't Stop Clapping
Letitia ‘No One’s Above the Law’ James Just Got Sued And You Won’t Stop Clapping
New York Attorney General Letitia James loves to sermonize that “No one is above the law,” but her record shows she really means “No one named Trump is above my political agenda.” Her entire campaign was a single-issue crusade built on the promise to “Get Trump,” and she delivered by filing a bizarre, victimless “fraud” case against him that even the banks involved openly rejected. Not one financial institution claimed harm. Not one lender said they wouldn’t do business with him again.
But that didn’t stop Judge Arthur Engoron—whose bias was obvious from the bench—from imposing an eye-watering, politically convenient fine of nearly half a billion dollars. It was so grotesquely disproportionate that an appeals court finally tossed it in August, delivering a much-needed reality check to James’s lawfare spectacle.
That’s Letitia James in a nutshell—always pushing the ethical limits, always using the weight of her office to intimidate anyone she marks as a political foe. Bullying isn’t an unfortunate byproduct of her approach; it is her approach.
So it’s hardly shocking that a school board chair in New York is now suing the attorney general, accusing James of threatening to oust board members who refused to bow to the progressive orthodoxy on allowing biological men into women’s sports:
The alleged threats came in a “guidance letter” [from James] that warned of the removal of any school board member who uses the wrong pronoun for a trans person, or if they allow students to publicly speak out at school board meetings about their fears and discomfort with student trans athletes using the wrong locker room for their biological sex.
A plaintiff in the suit, Massapequa Union Free School District Board Chair Kerry Wachter, alleged she was told that James’ office instructed her to mute and dismiss any board meeting speaker that expressed views opposing trans athletes in girls’ locker rooms and sports.
Massapequa Union Free School District Board Chair Kerry Wachter, alleged she was told that James' office instructed her to mute and dismiss any board meeting speaker that expressed views opposing trans athletes in girls' locker rooms and sports.
Wachter says James’ intimidation tactics are designed to intimidate her and others into silence:
“They’re saying if we allow this discussion in our board meetings, she can come in and remove us from the board,” Wachter told Fox News Digital. “They want me to stop public comment and stop them from speaking.”
Wachter added that trans students were not being directly named in any board meetings, and conversations were only based around the feelings and concerns of female students.
James claimed that school board members can be removed when “they willfully neglect their duty or violate legal protections for students in their districts.” She went on to add that the state’s Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) bars harassment and bullying.
Nevertheless, Attorney Kim Hermann from the Southeastern Legal Foundation has a note for James – There is an important constitutional principle known as the First Amendment.
“The First Amendment here reigns true, and so whether or not you have these state laws, a state cannot come in and just erase the First Amendment out of the Constitution,” Hermann said, per Fox News. “Whether or not statements and discussions about transgender and these different policies actually violate those state laws is absolutely irrelevant for what we’re talking about in this lawsuit.
James has shown time and again that she’s not an impartial public servant but a partisan enforcer, eager to weaponize her office against anyone who lands on her enemies list. She doesn’t just stretch her authority — she twists it into a political bludgeon.
If there’s any justice left in New York, this lawsuit will stick and finally force some accountability. Frankly, it’s long past time someone pushed back.
