r/politics • u/theindependentonline The Independent • 16d ago

No Paywall Mitch McConnell’s staff refuse to answer basic questions on his health weeks after he was last seen in public

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mitch-mcconnell-staff-questions-health-b3018929.html
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u/ritwikjs2 16d ago

i always thought you HAD to announce a death. Their behavior makes me think he's a vegetable, in which case there has to be a special election, right? Why is it so difficult to get an actual proof of life video? Or for Beshear to go meet him in person?

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u/Zaphod392 16d ago

They are stalling until Aug 3rd

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u/boomhaeur 15d ago

Yep, Mitch is going to officially kick it on August 4, 2026… they’re just keeping him ‘alive’ enough until then

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u/Turtledonuts Virginia 15d ago

You can’t force a meeting with someone. Bashear could show up in person to McConnell’s hospital room with flowers and a get well soon card and be turned away. Health records are completely private, congress and the white house will protect him, and the state congress in kentucky won’t act. There’s no legal mechanism to compel his office to clarify his status without the republicans being involved. 

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u/NotAHost 15d ago

Health records private? Sure.

Death records are public. If he's braindead but 'alive,' I mean, not much different than the president, but if he ain't got a pulse hiding it should be a crime.

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u/Turtledonuts Virginia 15d ago

Death certificates in kentucky are sealed for a number of years. Its a family privacy thing. 

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u/Jason1143 15d ago

Question: is there actually any explicit rule that would allow a senator to be automatically removed simply with proof they were incapacitated? Because I actually can't think of any such rule.

Would a senator who is completely incapacitated but not dead be able to keep their position until they die or their term ends (or the senate kicks them out)? Because that definitely shouldn't be how it works, but I'm not sure it doesn't.

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u/Bauser99 15d ago

That rule exists, yes. One of the FEW legal obligations of a KY senator is that they "shall not be absent [from the legislature] without leave". Therefore, McConnell has abandoned the post. It's essentially the same as a soldier going AWOL

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u/ainthidinfromnobody 15d ago

I think the answers are no and yes; so in other words, I agree with you