Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) will undergo surgery on Sunday after suffering a fractured femur over the weekend at an event in his home state.
A Blumenthal spokeswoman told the Washington Examiner that the 77-year-old was walking in the UConn Huskies victory parade in Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday when an individual in the procession tripped and fell on top of him from behind. The Huskies won the Men’s NCAA Basketball National Championship on Monday. The Democrat, who is currently serving his third-term in the Senate, will have a “routine” procedure this weekend to address the fracture.
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“Senator Blumenthal suffered a fracture when another parade goer tripped and fell onto the Senator from behind,” the spokeswoman said. “He will have routine surgery on Sunday and anticipates a full, strong recovery.”
Blumenthal spoke to a local reporter by phone Saturday evening who described him as seeming “alert” and “in good spirits.”
The Senate is in recess until April 17, giving Blumenthal just over a week to recover before he’ll be needed back in Washington.
Democrats currently control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, meaning that one absent lawmaker could give Republicans an opportunity to block President Joe Biden’s nominees and legislative efforts. The chamber has been beset by absences of members from both parties in recent months, which has complicated Democrats’ ability to push certain priorities through the chamber and underscored just how tenuous their majority is.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) will return to work when the current recess ends, which will come after a six-week hospital stay for in-patient depression treatment that kept him from the chamber. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has been absent due to medical troubles since March, and her team has yet to say if she will be back at work when the Senate reconvenes next week.
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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) was forced to miss votes when he traveled home after his mother died in late February, while Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) was absent for just under two weeks that month when he underwent surgery for prostate cancer.
On the GOP side, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was missing for most of March after suffering a fall that resulted in a two-week rehab stay. He is expected to return to the Senate after the recess, though that has not been confirmed.
