One of America’s most powerful politicians is in hospital after suffering a concussion in the nation’s capital.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Congress – stumbled at the hotel on Wednesday night.
The 81-year-old, who has ties to the campaign committee, has been attending a private dinner for the Senate Leadership Fund at the Waldorf-Astoria in Washington, D.C.
The Kentucky senator will remain in the hospital for “several days of observation and treatment,” his spokesman David Pope said.
He added that Mr McConnell was “grateful for the care of the medical professionals and for the warm wishes of his colleagues”.
Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican on the leadership team, said the politician, who suffered from polio as a child, has been awake and talking and is expected to make a full recovery.
President Biden tweeted that he wished the Senate Minority Leader a “speedy recovery” and looked forward to seeing him return to the Senate.
Mr McConnell and President Joe Biden in January
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said he had called Mr McConnell and spoken to his staff “to offer my prayers and best wishes.”
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota told reporters he was also at the dinner, where his fellow Republicans spoke “as usual.”
Mr Thune, who did not see Mr McConnell fall, added: “Obviously it happened later in the evening.”
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First elected to the Senate in 1984, Mr. McConnell served as Senate Majority Leader from 2015 until early 2021 and as Senate Minority Leader since 2021.
After being elected chairman of the Republican conference nine times since 2006, in January he became the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S. history.
Democrats, including the three independents who voted with them, currently hold a 51-49 majority in the upper house.
In 2019, Mr. McConnell tripped and fell at his Kentucky home, fractured his shoulder and underwent surgery.
He is currently serving his seventh six-year term, which runs until 2026, and is the third U.S. senator to be hospitalized in recent weeks.
Democrat John Fetterman is being treated for depression, while fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein was taken to the hospital last week and later released home to recuperate with a bout of shingles.
The absence of Democrats is a challenge for Mr. Schumer, whose party has a slim majority, while Republicans, the minority party, have had an easy time with intermittent absences.