Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was taken to the hospital for an overnight stay on Thursday after feeling unwell, the senator’s office announced on Thursday night.
Leahy “was not feeling well and was taken to a Washington area hospital for tests, as a precaution,” his office said. “At the recommendation of his doctors, he is expected to remain overnight for observation.”
It’s unclear at the moment what exactly led to Leahy’s hospitalization.
Leahy’s absence hobbles his fellow Democrats’ paper-thin control over the evenly split Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker vote.
The 82-year-old Democrat’s health has become a serious concern in recent years: He was admitted to the hospital last year to be treated for muscle spasms, and he had to undergo two surgeries this summer to repair a broken hip he’d sustained from a fall.
Leahy, who’s served a staggering 47 years in Congress, announced last November that he would retire at the end of his current term to “pass the torch to the next Vermonter who will carry on this work for our great state.”
Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) is running for Leahy’s seat in the upcoming midterms and is heavily favored to win against GOP rival Gerald Malloy.
I just realized that if Leahy (or any other Dem senator) were to die, that would flip the Senate. Not sure whether that would make much difference this close to the election, though.
Yeah, not sure the selfish octogenarians in the Senate have come upon your realization.
Nothing like having the entire Democratic agenda resting on the health of a few octogenarians with huge egos and no desire to spend time with their grandchildren.
That’s true, but only because the governor of Vermont is a Republican and would surely appoint another Republican unless there’s a law preventing him from doing so. Otherwise, if something happened to, say, DiFi, Newsom would replace her with a Democrat who’d hold the seat until there was an election to replace her.
Leahy is a mere 2 years older than President Biden.
That’s not to say that I won’t be voting for Joe year after next, but our current gerontocracy is less than ideal.
ETA: Mint the goddamn coin.