(FILES) US Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2026. Republican US Senator Mitch McConnell, the upper chamber's former leader, returned to Congress on September 14, 2026 after a monthslong medical absence due to a bad fall. The 84-year-old senator from Kentucky was first hospitalized in mid-June, putting pressure on the slim majority his fellow Republicans held in the Senate. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)