Mitch McConnell

Pressure is building on Sen. Mitch McConnell after more than six weeks away from the Senate with little public information about his condition, renewing scrutiny over the country’s aging leaders and questions about their health impacting their ability to serve.

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sent McConnell a letter demanding he prove his “capacity to serve” or resign from his seat, ramping up pressure on the former Senate leader to be more forthright about his condition. McConnell, who is retiring at the end of his term in January, has remained out of public view since his hospitalization.

The 84-year-old senator was hospitalized on June 14 after falling at his home and has not been seen in public since. His office has released few details on his condition and McConnell has not spoken publicly, prompting speculation about his health and whether he is able to continue serving. He has missed weeks of Senate votes while communicating exclusively through written statements released by his office.

Beshear said it had been more than six weeks since McConnell’s hospitalization and he had not conducted any official duties in that time, sparking speculation about his condition and what representation the people of Kentucky are receiving.

“As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote in a letter to McConnell, which also said he would call for an investigation to “investigate” McConnell’s condition and “begin the process if warranted” of replacing him.

In a statement from July 12, McConnell said he had suffered a fall but said he hadn’t suffered a heart attack, stroke and that he didn’t have any tumors or hemorrhages.

In the latest update, McConnell’s office said he has not been medically cleared to leave the rehab facility where he is undergoing physical therapy to recover from his fall. An accompanying letter from the Office of the Attending Physician said McConnell wasn’t cleared to return to office and that its physicians see him daily.

“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders,” McConnell said in a statement.

McConnell’s office released another photo this week picturing him smiling with his wife, former transportation secretary Elaine Chao, one of the few public glimpses of him since the hospitalization.

Thune and other Senate Republicans have said they have spoken to the senator by phone but have not provided any other updates, arguing it is an issue between McConnell and the people of Kentucky.

The limited information about McConnell’s recovery has reignited a longstanding debate about how much elected officials should disclose about their health. Some members of Congress have been more forthright when they suffer ailments that require surgeries or hospital stays, but that approach has not been universal on Capitol Hill or within the White House.

“People need to know: Can you fulfill your functions? There’s not enough transparency about people's health,” said Ray La Raja, a political science professor who studies campaign finance and co-director of the UMass Amherst poll. “It's a real challenge because on one end, people deserve medical privacy, but these are public officials. They need to perform duties on behalf of the public.”

Members of Congress and presidents have a long history of failing to be transparent about their health and are not required by law or institutional guidelines to do so, leaving individuals to decide how much information to disclose. Other members of Congress have also been historically hesitant to push each other to divulge more health information and are reluctant to impose additional requirements on themselves.

“It's hard for people to regulate their own institution. You see that same problem with how they're regulating stock trading, it's pretty feeble,” La Raja said. “The self-regulation on this matter is not working.”

McConnell’s prolonged hospitalization comes as Congress has also faced renewed scrutiny following the unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and several other lengthy or unexplained absences, fueling broader questions about whether elected officials are sufficiently transparent about their health.

The current Congress is the oldest in U.S. history and may accelerate even further in the Senate, where more than a third of members are already over 70.

Polling has consistently found broad and bipartisan support for more transparency from elected officials’ health. Americans also broadly support age limits for members of Congress and the president, underscoring broader concerns about whether the country’s aging leaders can continue serving effectively and are equipped to handle the issues it is facing.

A CNN poll released Wednesday found nearly two-thirds of Americans believe elected officials should release all medical information that could affect their ability to serve, while 35% say they have the same rights as private citizens to keep their medical records private. The survey also found 70% of people aligned with either major party say they would be uneasy or upset if their party nominated someone over the age of 70.