Kentucky Governor Turns Up the Heat on McConnell

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has demanded McConnell explain his absence, or someone else will do it for him.

Someone had to say it: if Senator Mitch McConnell is as not dead as he claims, where the hell is he? That’s the gist of a letter Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear wrote to the Senator on day 43 of his absence from the Senate after being hospitalized.

“During that time you have cast zero votes, engaged in no official activities, and aside from two photos and corresponding statements, have made no effort to communicate with your Kentucky constituents or the nation,” he wrote.

I appreciate his tone: straight to the point. And the point is that if McConnell can’t prove that he’s fit to serve, he needs to resign so that someone else can step in and serve the people of Kentucky. A doctor’s note isn’t going to cut it. No more questionable proof-of-life photos that may or may not be AI generated. We need McConnell on the mic.

Beshear went a step further, asking Senate Majority Leader John Thune to investigate McConnell’s condition and, pending the findings, begin the process of replacing him.

The irony of the whole situation is almost too much.

For 38 years, Mitch McConnell’s signature move has been rewriting the rules. The guy defies the laws of physics with the way he’d bend - but, crucially, not break - institutional rules to his will. Think back to when he blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Senate couldn’t confirm justices in an election year. Cut to: months later, he pushed through Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation just weeks before the same election. He wielded a pen like a sword to chop up Senate norms whenever it served his - and the Republicans’- interests.

Back to that irony: 43 days into a major health crisis, he’s at the mercy of those same institutional norms that might force him out, only this time he’s not there to work them over.

But, of course, he and his party planned for this.

Republicans have a vested interest in keeping McConnell trapped in purgatory. His Senate seat remains technically occupied, maintaining the Republican majority, and blocking a costly (and potentially cataclysmic) special election. That’s why you’re not hearing anything from Republicans on this. They’re content with a couple of photos, which frankly prove nothing, and some boilerplate statements, because they preserve the status quo.

Beshear isn’t a fan of the cheap theatrics. He’s demanding the GOP to essentially shit or get off the pot: either produce evidence McConnell can do the job or cop to the fact that they’ve turned a veteran politician into a glorified seat filler, all to entrench their Republican majority.

That said, Beshear’s ultimatum lacks teeth - and that’s thanks to Kentucky Republicans, with an assist from McConnell himself. Because of a new law passed in 2024, the Democratic governor can’t appoint a replacement; Kentucky mandates his seat be filled by special election— but only if it’s vacated before August 3. And McConnell’s office knows this, which is why they’re running out the clock with as little information as possible. It’s a fitting end to Mitch McConnell’s career (and life)— conferring unfair advantage onto Republicans, no matter how cynical it looks.