Congress

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has returned to the Senate after a long absence. The 84-year-old senator has not been to the U.S. Capitol since June 14, when he was hospitalized for a fall in his home. His three-month absence from the Senate generated a flood of criticism and online speculation, as the Kentucky senator initially remained quiet for weeks about his condition. The 84-year-old senator eventually disclosed that he had been “briefly unconscious” due to a fall and had also been treated for mild pneumonia in the hospital. In a statement Monday McConnell said his recovery has been a “long and often frustrating process.”