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As Sen. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, calls for transparency grow
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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics What transparency do lawmakers owe when it comes to health?
− Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, calls for transparency grow It's been nearly four weeks since Republican Sen.
+ It's been nearly four weeks since Sen.
− Mitch McConnell was hospitalized.
+ Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was hospitalized.
− Politics As Sen.
+ Politics For Mitch McConnell and Congress, health transparency is a choice, not a requirement Updated July 11, 20265:00 AM ET Originally published July 10, 20264:48 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By
Sam Gringlas
Sen.
− Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, calls for transparency grow July 10, 20264:48 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Sam Gringlas As Sen.
+ Mitch McConnell speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in December.
− Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, calls for transparency grow Listen · 3:44 3:44 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5885905/nx-s1-9843268" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript It's been nearly four weeks since Republican Sen.
+ The Kentucky Republican was hospitalized in June, and his staff has shared scant details about why.
+ Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption
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It has been nearly a month since Sen.
− It's not the first time this year that a member of Congress has been absent for weeks with scant details.
+ The retiring Kentucky Republican has not been seen in public since, and his office has offered few details about why he was admitted or when he might return.
This is not the first time this year a member of Congress has been absent for weeks with little explanation, recharging a perennial debate on Capitol Hill over what lawmakers and others in positions of power owe the public when it comes to transparency about their health or fitness for office.
When McConnell was hospitalized in June, Rep.
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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized for almost a month.
+ Tom Kean had already been missing from Congress for months.
− His office has not revealed why, saying only that he is still working with his staff.
+ His office shared almost nothing about where he was.
When the New Jersey Republican finally returned at the end of June after nearly four months, he disclosed that he had been in the hospital receiving treatment for depression.
Politics Rep.
− This is not the first time a member of Congress has been absent with little explanation.
+ Tom Kean returns to Congress, says depression is why he went missing for months "I was still trying to understand what was happening myself," Kean said on the House floor.
− NPR's Sam Gringlas reports.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: Congressman Tom Kean disappeared from Congress for nearly four months this spring.
+ "When I said I hoped to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it.
− When the New Jersey Republican finally returned, he said he'd been hospitalized for depression.
+ As the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover, there is no timeline for healing."
That explanation has not satisfied some colleagues and constituents.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TOM KEAN: I was still trying to understand what was happening myself.
+ "As someone who has lived with depression, I have deep sympathy for anyone struggling with mental illness," Rep.
− When I said I hope to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it.
+ Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y. wrote on X. "At the same time, public office carries a duty of transparency … The public is often most forgiving of those who level with them."
Rep. Thomas Kean, R-N.J., departs the Capitol on June 30, 2026. Kean delivered a speech on the House floor to explain his four month absence from Congress, which he said was due to diagnosed depression. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption
Kean's office said he remained engaged in congressional business during his absence. McConnell's team has said much the same. Several top Republicans reported having phone calls with McConnell on Tuesday.
− GRINGLAS: The secrecy around these two cases has reignited a debate.
+ A spokesman for McConnell's successor, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the two men "had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security."
Veteran Capitol Hill staffer Adam Jentleson says all this sparks a sometimes complicated and uncomfortable question: where does the public's right to know begin and the lawmakers' right to privacy end?
− ADAM JENTLESON: Where does the public's right to know begin and the Senator's right to privacy end?
+ "Certainly your ability to serve your constituents — or not — is a very valid point that needs to be addressed," he says.
− GRINGLAS: Adam Jentleson worked for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid when he sustained a bad eye injury while exercising.
+ Jentleson served as communications director for the late former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., when he sustained a bad eye injury while exercising.
− Later, Jentleson was Senator John Fetterman's chief of staff when the Pennsylvania Democrat checked into the hospital for depression.
+ Later, Jentleson was Sen.
− Jentleson says both lawmakers opted for transparency.
+ John Fetterman's chief of staff when the Pennsylvania Democrat checked into the hospital for depression.
In both cases, the lawmakers opted for transparency.
− In Washington, that's often not the first instinct.
+ Jentleson asserts that did not remain the case for Fetterman as time went on.
− That was the case when former attending physician to Congress Robert Krasner diagnosed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with breast cancer.
+ Jentleson raised concerns that his former boss abandoned his treatment plan and was behaving in ways that would make him unfit to serve. Fetterman has disputed those claims and has accused Jentleson of having a grudge.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROBERT KRASNER: And at first, she said, I don't want anybody to know about this.
+ McConnell is pushed in a wheelchair during a vote at the U.S.
− I said, that's impossible.
+ Capitol on April 13, 2026.
− I can't fix that in my little office here in the Capitol.
+ Heather Diehl/Getty Images hide caption
In Washington, transparency is often not the first instinct.
− GRINGLAS: In this 2021 interview with public access station CUNY TV, Krasner said O'Connor took his advice - if you can't fix it, feature it.
+ Dr. Robert Krasner, a former attending physician to Congress, says that was the case when he diagnosed then-Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with breast cancer.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRASNER: And for years, she would come into my office and say, I got 30 letters this month from people who followed your advice - or her advice - to be screened for breast cancer.
GRINGLAS: But these decisions can get complicated when health issues may affect long-term ability to do the job.
+ "At first she said, I don't want anyone to know about this," Krasner said in a 2021 interview with public access station CUNY-TV.
− Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall asked Krasner to tell them when it was time to step aside.
+ "I said, 'That's impossible. I can't fix that in my little office here in the Capitol.'"
Krasner said he encouraged O'Connor to use her own experience to help others. She followed his advice.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRASNER: In many ways, I was the person that they could talk to without any political repercussions.
+ "And for years, she would come into my office and show me letters from people who followed her advice to be screened for breast cancer," Krasner said.
− GRINGLAS: But this is not a system, and Krasner thinks that's a problem.
+ But these decisions become more complicated when health issues may affect the long-term ability of a lawmaker, judge or president to do the job.
Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall asked Krasner to tell them when it was time to step aside.
− Politicians often stick around into their 80s and beyond.
+ Krasner has said he could be truthful with them in a way that clerks, the other justices or even their spouses could not.
"In many ways, I was the person they could talk to without any political repercussions," Krasner told CUNY-TV.
− Joe Biden and Donald Trump both face questions about their acuity for office.
+ "And that was a big deal for them."
A doctor willing to be candid and a patient willing to receive the advice – this is not a system.
− On the Hill, Jentleson says lawmakers can be reluctant to give up life in Congress.
+ Krasner believes that is a problem and has been pitching more formal mechanisms to help top public officials make that determination.
− JENTLESON: It mimics aspects of a senior living facility.
+ Many politicians stay in office well into their eighties.
− You've got attending physician right down the hallway, and lots of people just, you know, catering to your every need.
+ Then-President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump both faced questions about their acuity for office.
− It is hard to walk away from.
+ Top Biden aides have been accused of downplaying concerns about his health, especially after a disastrous debate resulted in the end of his reelection bid in 2024.
− GRINGLAS: This term, five members of Congress died in office.
+ On Capitol Hill, then-Sen.
− In an extreme example, the office of then Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger did not disclose her move to an actual assisted living facility.
+ Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., became a high-profile example of a lawmaker who declined to step aside even amid mounting questions about their ability to function in the role.
− All this erodes trust in the institution, says University of Louisville political science professor Adam Enders.
+ She died in office in 2023 at age 90.
Jentleson says lawmakers can be reluctant to give up life in Congress.
− He says that's one reason the information void around McConnell and Kean sparks so many conspiracy theories. There's a truthiness, as Stephen Colbert used to say, to this idea of politicians not being fully open about their health.
+ Lawmakers have staff to drive them around, plan their travel and bring their meals, as well as an attending physician down the hall and intellectual stimulation on interesting topics.
− ADAM ENDERS: It's also not the worst thing in the world to have citizens that are kind of monitoring the people who they've turned power over to.
+ "It mimics a lot of the aspects of a senior living facility, so it is hard to walk away from," Jentleson says.
− GRINGLAS: Because absent lawmakers can have consequences, especially in a narrowly divided Congress.
+ This term, five members of Congress died in office.
− Kean and McConnell both missed votes on Iran war powers resolutions that passed barely.
+ In an extreme example, the office of then-Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, did not disclose her move to an actual senior living facility. Her son told the Dallas Morning News in 2024 shortly before she retired that she had been experiencing "dementia issues."
Jentleson says members need to retire at a point when they probably could still continue to serve or win their next race. Otherwise, they may end up either unable to make that decision or with a legacy tainted by a diminished final chapter. When they do not, Jentleson says it can be hard for staff to speak up.
− For Congressman Jamie Raskin, sharing his 2022 cancer diagnosis was an easy decision.
+ "For me, where the line comes in is when it is a question of capacity and ability to make judgement calls," Jentleson says.
− But the Maryland Democrat says that's not the case for everyone.
+ "If that judgement is impaired … I think the public has a right to know. And then the public can do whatever they want with that information," he says.
− JAMIE RASKIN: I don't know that you can say that there's one right way of dealing with it.
+ The litany of examples of officials not being forthright about health erodes trust in the institution, says Adam Enders, a University of Louisville political science professor who studies conspiracy theories.
− I felt that my constituents had a right to know.
+ He says this is one reason the information void around McConnell and Kean sparked so many of them.
There is a "truthiness," as Stephen Colbert's character on the Colbert Report used to say, or nugget of truth to this idea of politicians not being fully open about their health.
Enders sees these conspiracies as less nefarious than other claims, like misinformation about stolen elections.
− You know, I wanted to have that transparency.
+ Though he says there is a fine line between conspiracy theories designed to advance an agenda versus the kind of skepticism that can be healthy in a democracy.
− GRINGLAS: Raskin says that transparency resulted in tremendous support too.
+ "It's not the worst thing in the world to have citizens that are monitoring the people who they've turned power to and hoping they're doing the kinds of things they're elected to do," Enders says.
− Sam Gringlas, NPR News, Washington.
+ Rep.
− Copyright © 2026 NPR.
+ Jamie Raskin, D-Md., speaks to reporters on June 5, 2023.
− All rights reserved.
+ Raskin says sharing his 2022 cancer diagnosis with the public was an easy decision.
− Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
+ Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption
Extended absences can have consequences, especially in a narrowly divided Congress.
− Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary.
+ Kean and McConnell both missed crucial votes – including on Iran war powers resolutions that barely passed.
Rep.
− Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio.
+ Jamie Raskin, who has authored legislation to address what he sees as gaps in the 25th amendment, which addresses scenarios where the president cannot discharge the duties of office, says the risks to the nation are lower for an individual member of Congress compared to the president.
The Maryland Democrat has thought a lot about health, transparency and public service.
− Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication.
+ He says sharing his 2022 cancer diagnosis was an easy decision, but recognizes that is not the case for everyone.
"I don't know that you can say there's one right way of dealing with it," Raskin says.
− The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
+ "I felt my constituents had a right to know.
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+ I wanted to have that transparency. And I think it also gave me a tremendous amount of support."
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