McConnell Returns in Wheelchair After 92-Day Absence

McConnell casts what turns out to be his last Senate vote before the absence, according to WFLA.

He is taken to a hospital from his Washington, D.C., home after a fall, PennLive and Raw Story reported. He does not return to the Capitol for the rest of the summer.

With McConnell out, more than 60 recorded roll-call votes pass without him, and a farm bill Republicans could not move out of committee stalls.

McConnell is wheeled into the Capitol and votes for the first time in three months. Senate floor cameras capture him talking with colleagues from his wheelchair, but reporters say they were barred from recording video of his arrival, Mediaite reported.

McConnell and his staff collected more than $930,000 in taxpayer-funded pay during the 92-day absence, according to a report cited by Raw Story and AlterNet. Roughly $43,500 of that went to McConnell himself and $893,872 to his roughly 40 staff members, with his six highest-paid aides taking a combined $318,688 before taxes.

The Cost