How Mitch McConnell Turned Into the New Dianne Feinstein - Newsweek

Senator Mitch McConnell returned to Capitol Hill on Monday following a three-month absence after a June hospitalization.

But just days into his return, a moment during a Senate committee vote reignited public scrutiny of the 84-year-old senator’s ability to carry out his duties.

The Kentucky Republican, arriving in a wheelchair, on Wednesday attended a Senate Agriculture Committee vote on the Farm Bill. He appeared to remain silent after his name was called before being prompted by fellow lawmakers into casting his vote.

McConnell’s “aye” was critical in breaking the 11-11 committee deadlock along party lines, allowing the Agriculture Act of 2026 to pass the committee.

The moment bore resemblance to a previous incident involving former Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2023, when she was also prompted by colleagues during a committee vote. Feinstein faced years of public scrutiny over her health and ability to carry out her Senate duties before her death in office in 2023.

Newsweek contacted McConnell’s office via contact form on his website on Thursday.

Video of Wednesday’s committee meeting shows that when the clerk called McConnell’s name to vote, he did not respond for several seconds.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, sitting opposite him, appeared to prompt him to answer before Republican Committee Chairman John Boozman of Arkansas leaned toward him and whispered an audible “aye.”

After his name was called again, McConnell raised a finger and voted “aye.”

In a statement on X, McConnell said he was “proud to vote yes on the Farm Bill on behalf of the hardworking farm families across Kentucky.”

Upon his return to the Senate on Monday, McConnell said on X that he is “still not quite back to 100 percent” but that he has assured Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota that “as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me.”

Wednesday’s incident echoes a memorable episode involving Feinstein, when she was prompted by colleagues during a committee vote in 2023.

Feinstein was participating in a Senate Appropriations Committee markup of a defense spending bill when her name was called for a vote. Rather than answering “aye” or “nay,” the California Democrat began reading prepared remarks supporting the measure.

As she continued speaking, an aide nudged her and Committee Chair Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, told her: “Just say aye.” Feinstein then answered “aye.”

Feinstein’s office explained at the time that the committee meeting had been “a little chaotic” and that the senator had been preoccupied and had not realized that debate was over and a vote had been called.

The circumstances are not identical, as Feinstein was at the time facing far broader scrutiny over her ability to carry out her duties and questions about her memory and cognitive abilities.

But both incidents involved a long-serving senator being relied upon for a consequential vote while questions had been raised about their ability to independently carry out their duties.

McConnell, one of the oldest members of the Senate, was briefly hospitalized in June, which he later revealed was due to a fall at his Washington home that briefly left him unconscious. He said he then developed pneumonia during his recovery.

The recent Farm Bill vote is not the first time McConnell’s public appearances have drawn scrutiny.

In 2023, he appeared to freeze mid-speaking for nearly a half-minute at a news conference in July and experienced a similar episode in August. McConnell’s office attributed both incidents to his feeling lightheaded, and the congressional physician later said he was medically cleared to continue his work.

The scrutiny surrounding Feinstein eventually led to calls for her to resign, even from members of her own party such as California Representative Ro Khanna.

While McConnell has not faced the same level of pressure, he did face some calls to step down after his public freezes in 2023. Then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said the Senate was “the most privileged nursing home in the country” and that McConnell “had to know when to leave.”

Then-Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia also responded to the incidents in 2023 by saying that McConnell, like Feinstein, was “not fit for office.”

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has repeatedly raised concerns about McConnell’s health and said this week that the senator had “an obligation to prove to the people of Kentucky that he has the capacity to represent us and represent us well.”

The episode also feeds into wider questions about how an aging Congress responds when lawmakers’ ability to carry out their duties comes into question.

McConnell has said he intends to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2027. Now in his seventh Senate term, McConnell is the longest-serving U.S. senator in Kentucky history.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Dave Siminoff.