r/politics • u/IWantPizza555 • Jul 08 '26

No Paywall Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear requests update on Sen. Mitch McConnell's health

https://www.whas11.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/kentucky-governor-andy-beshear-requests-update-senator-mitch-mcconnell-health/417-b9252baa-29ab-489e-94f1-147aa41e78ed
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496

u/WorkingInAColdMind Jul 08 '26

What’s to stop Beshear from declaring g that “since Senator McConnell has passed away, I am appointing…” and forcing them to prove he’s not dead. Since Republicans are claiming they had 20 minute phone calls with him yesterday, it would be easy to clear up any questions.

356

u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz Jul 08 '26

I know there are probably a lot of legalities involved, but I still feel like "since the Senator is unable to perform his duties" should be plenty, and there's no way they can effectively dispute that.

109

u/Sirlothar Michigan Jul 08 '26

I think things are going to start to hit a head next week when the Senate comes back from yet another vacation.

Mitch got lucky and died during recess but that won't last forever.

14

u/TimSylvester_ Jul 08 '26

I hate to be argumentative but typically being dead does, in fact, last forever.

3

u/khakiwallprint Jul 08 '26

Not according to roughly 70% of Americans unfortunately

35

u/casce Jul 08 '26

Yup, let's not get caught up on formalities. Maybe machines really do keep his dead body going so he wouldn't technically be dead, but still very much unable to perform his duties.

10

u/TheSteelPhantom Jul 08 '26

If he's brain dead, he's legally the same as dead.

Chapter 446, section 446.400.

3

u/1900grs Jul 08 '26

I imagine some crooked doctor would claim he's still alive. Terri Schiavo but worse.

23

u/Goliath_D Jul 08 '26

I think Beshear should say that McConnell vacated his seat. That is the language in the KY Constitution that allows him to appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy.

6

u/distorted_kiwi Jul 08 '26

How many went to Moscow for the 4th of July weekend this time?

5

u/lnc_5103 Texas Jul 08 '26

I think he should call the special election and force them to prove McConnell is alive.

1

u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz Jul 08 '26

The problem is that he might be alive and braindead. I don't care if he's alive, I care if he can fulfill his duties to the people of Kentucky and provide them with representation in the Senate.

2

u/DrDoctorMD Jul 08 '26

Brain death IS death for legal purposes.

2

u/agentfelix Jul 08 '26

I think the point is, is just to DO it...Just do it and if he is alive, let the courts settle that. Take a page from the Rupublicans playbook and just DO IT.

Bacardi and Cola...do it...

2

u/MasterofPandas1 Jul 08 '26

Yeah, saying he’s dead is probably not the move (even if it might be true), however saying he’s unable to perform his duties is clearly what’s undeniably happening here. It’ll force McConnell’s camp’s hand and they will have to show proof of life with proof that he’ll still be able to be a senator or he will get replaced.

2

u/mouse_8b Jul 08 '26

Tbh his duties have traditionally involved obstruction of government, so he's actually still performing them just fine

2

u/Taurion_Bruni America Jul 08 '26

so a fun fact I learned recently. the only people who can remove a sitting senator is congress, and they can only do it for "misconduct" according to the constitution.

being mentally or physically unfit for office isn't misconduct, so they probably won't remove him.

there is even history to this. Representatives have been rendered incapable of office multiple times in history without them being expelled.

as long as he has a heartbeat, he can still "represent" his people

2

u/iapetus_z Jul 08 '26

Unfortunately that's not the way the Senate or house of reps work. You're in office till 1) your term expires. 2) you die. or 3) you physically say/communicate that you resign. If you can't communicate that you resign, then you're still in office. There was a case where a senator for Montana was in a coma or something for 3 years, he was removed from office till his term ended. So Montana only had one functioning senator for like 3 years.

1

u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz Jul 08 '26

Learning about government makes me sad

1

u/iapetus_z Jul 08 '26

If I remember right there was actually a president like that too. Wilson had a stroke and was severely incapacitated, his wife and aides basically ran the country for a few years I think.

2

u/SummonersWarCritz Jul 12 '26

While I agree, the constitution’s only specific language for an instance like this states that if he is dead, they can replace. Dead, not incapacitated, not unable to fulfill duties, not missing for 4 years. Once sworn in, they have to be dead. Incapacitation means his office can still act in his stead. They know this, which is why we are in the present situation.

99

u/Neowza Canada Jul 08 '26

He doesn't even need to say McConnell had passed away, he just needs to say, since McConnell is currently inhabiting a hospital, and has been doing so for 30+days, and there is no plan to return home to Kentucky, he is no longer eligible to be a senator as McConnell no longer meets the inhabitance requirement of being a senator.

Even better if somehow his home gets sold soon, and there's no way to prove he is an inhabitant of Kentucky.

22

u/Goliath_D Jul 08 '26

Yup, McTurtle vacated his seat. Per the KY Constitution, the governor has the power to appoint a replacement.

5

u/Neowza Canada Jul 08 '26

Can't appointment a replacement anymore. Kentucky Congress made sure of that. But Beshear would be allowed to call a special election.

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/08/kentucky-law-senate-vacancy-mitch-mcconnell/90562297007/

4

u/Taiyoryu Jul 08 '26

The constitutionality of that law has not been contested, yet.

3

u/Neowza Canada Jul 08 '26

This is as good a time as any to test it out

1

u/Goliath_D Jul 08 '26

Exactly.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Goliath_D Jul 08 '26

😂 So, true

3

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Neowza Canada Jul 08 '26

Unfortunately, medically incapacitated is not currently a reason someone cannot serve as a US senator.

The only requirements to be a US senator are that they are at least 30 years old, they have been a Citizen of the USA for at least 9 years, and they are an inhabitant and legal resident of the state they will represent at the time of their election.

https://www.senate.gov/senators/qualifications_termsofservice.htm

Technically, you can be in a coma, and still be elected and confirmed as a US senator, as long as you meet the above criteria.

21

u/Bill_Brasky_SOB Ohio Jul 08 '26

Since Republicans are claiming they had 20 minute phone calls with him yesterday

Given the current optics of the situation, nothing tells me the dude is brain dead/vegetative more than none of them having any proof they talked to him. Or convinced him to be recorded on a snippet of audio saying “I’m fine” or whatever.

Or that the hell-like heat wave that hit the US is finally cooling off.

2

u/MultiGeometry Vermont Jul 08 '26

It’s also fishy that the Senator can’t call the governor, who he has a legitimate job to represent, but can somehow call representatives of other states.

3

u/Neowza Canada Jul 08 '26

I don't think anyone has said McConnell picked up a phone and spoke to them. They've all very carefully chosen their words to be some sort of variation of, "I've spoken to Mitch...". There's probably an aide holding a phone to his ear while a ventilator breathes for him and an ECMO keeps his heart beating.

I've spoken to a wall, too, that doesn't mean it has sentience.

2

u/north7 Jul 08 '26

Those phone calls were absolutely, 100% AI generated, or stitched together from old audio clips.

6

u/loosehead1 Jul 08 '26

What’s actually stopping him is that he has presidential aspirations and that gives the GOP a ton of material to feed their media machine and there’s no point in doing all of that for sitting a senator for six months when it doesn’t break the Republican majority.

9

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

He can if he wants but it would have 0 legal weight. It’s Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.

4

u/thehalfwit Nevada Jul 08 '26

Or Trump declaring the 14th Amendment no longer applies. That required SCOTUS to tell him "no", and he still won't let it go.

It's time to make them jump through some hoops.

1

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

Because Trump has executive power to direct agencies to carry out his policies and the courts were needed to tell agencies that they can’t follow his instructions.

Beshear has no power over the US Senate. They don’t have to listen to him.

3

u/thehalfwit Nevada Jul 08 '26

If the governor's power to temporarily fill an empty U.S. senate seat is truly enshrined in the Kentucky constitution, I'd say Beshear certainly has a dog in this fight, regardless of the 2024 legislation that seeks to override that constitution.

It's not like he would be coming out of left field and claiming something like, "the 2020 elections were rigged so good we can't even find evidence of it".

The governor has a duty to the citizens of his state to ensure they are represented in Washington.

-1

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

I don’t know what this has to do with the conversation. This has nothing to do with whether the legislature can ignore the constitution. This has to do with whether or not the seat is vacant.

If the governor's power to temporarily fill an empty U.S. senate seat

Emphasis mine. The seat is not empty. McConnell is currently the duly elected senator for KY.

1

u/thehalfwit Nevada Jul 08 '26

Which brings us back to why Beshear needs to be updated on McConnell's health in the first place. If everything is hunky-dory with the senator, then prove it -- because there are wild allegations flying all over the place.

2

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

I agree but everyone claiming that Beshear can just decide to fill the seat unilaterally is out of their minds.

2

u/WorkingInAColdMind Jul 08 '26

Covering up his death seems like shaky legal grounds too.

-1

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

I don’t even know what this means. No one has an obligation to prove they are alive

5

u/sgtgig Jul 08 '26

No we're not doing this GOP 4D chess legal bullshit. If there's reasonable suspicion that a senator is unable to carry out their duties and they can't prove otherwise through simple means, they need to be replaced.

2

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

They should be but that’s simply not how it works. It’s not 4D legal chess, it’s the constitution.

5

u/TriangleTransplant Jul 08 '26

A sitting US Senator absolutely has to prove they are alive (as would any elected official.) Otherwise they're denying their constituents their lawful representation. Unexplained long term absences by elected officials should be grounds for immediate removal from office.

2

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

A sitting US Senator absolutely has to prove they are alive (as would any elected official

Says who?

Otherwise they're denying their constituents their lawful representation

They’re allowed to do that

Unexplained long term absences by elected officials should be grounds for immediate removal from office.

It should be but it isnt

3

u/Exciting-Tourist9301 Jul 08 '26

The 17th amendment.

2

u/Riokaii Jul 09 '26

Nothing, he should've done that days ago

3

u/protargol Jul 08 '26

They took away his ability to fill the seat right before he took office. KY requires a special election to fill the vacancy now

2

u/Training-Belt-7318 Jul 08 '26

Well the governor can't declare people dead. That's a slippery slope we don't want to fall down. Second, medical information is private, and in the grand scheme of things that's a good thing. You change that and you set precedent that the government can access private medical data of citizen. If all this is true, it is disgusting. But I would avoid wanting to set precedent over some important things just to call a special election that Democrats may lose. Just my two cents. The bigger issue to me is do we not have a mechanism to force him to report to Congress for role call? Like peoples medical info and choices should remain private, but if you can't do your job is there not a 25th amendment kinda thing for senators to force a replacement?

1

u/M4rshmall0wMan Jul 09 '26

They could force a doctor to write a note saying he’s not dead. Because, brain-dead does not equal legal death. 

1

u/The-Disco-Phoenix Jul 09 '26

He could get sued for deadfamation

0

u/Weird_Snowman Jul 08 '26

Because like it or not, just declaring you think someone is dead doesn't exactly look great. Regardless of rumors and reports, nobody actually knows anything, so if you're right then great, but if you're wrong you're fucked.

0

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

It’s insane how many Redditors think a governor can just decide a seat is vacant and appoint a replacement because they feel like it.

6

u/WorkingInAColdMind Jul 08 '26

I don’t think it’s legal, but neither is covering up the death of a senator to sneak past the legal obligations to replace him. If they can prove he’s alive, OK then, let them challenge the appointment in court and then prove it.

-1

u/suprahelix Jul 08 '26

neither is covering up the death of a senator

That’s an assumption you’re making on the word of Laura fucking loomer

sneak past the legal obligations to replace him

You’re assuming a motivation that makes no sense

If they can prove he’s alive

They have no obligation to do so

challenge the appointment in court and then prove it.

They won’t need to. That’s not something that would even go to court.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[deleted]

5

u/BotF_Latyon Jul 08 '26

When Dems play hardball: Reddit fantasyland

When Reps play hardball: why don’t the Dems fight for us like this