{"id":951,"date":"2026-07-13T22:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:40:11","slug":"mcconnells-been-on-sick-leave-for-a-month-us-workers-arent-guaranteed-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951","title":{"rendered":"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n

Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, <\/span><\/i>support us with a donation<\/span><\/i> of any size.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Corporate Media, Establishment Democrats Use Platner to Attack Democratic Socialists<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has been absent from his congressional duties for nearly a month, in what he finally explained on Sunday has been an extended period of sick leave. <\/p>\n

But McConnell, the high-powered former majority leader in the Senate, has previously worked to bar U.S. workers from being able to have similar benefits at work, such as guaranteed sick leave \u2014 including during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

McConnell has been hospitalized since June 14. For weeks, his office provided no explanation on his condition, sparking wild speculation concerning his physical health or even whether or not he was alive. Fellow members of Congress released cryptic statements claiming to have spoken with him, while others said they had no information on his health status.<\/p>\n

Finally, on Sunday, McConnell\u2019s office released a statement saying that he\u2019s been in the hospital for weeks after suffering a fall, during which he was \u201cbriefly unconscious,\u201d and contracting a case of pneumonia. He described both conditions as minor, and promised to return to the Senate floor for votes soon \u2014 though he did not provide a date for when he may return, meaning that he may be absent for weeks longer before his retirement this upcoming January.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you elected me to a seventh term and made me our Commonwealth\u2019s longest serving Senator, you did so trusting that I\u2019d keep showing up to fight for you every day,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the same time, I\u2019ve had more than my share of experience with physical vulnerabilities. Surviving childhood polio meant spending my entire life with mobility challenges. They haven\u2019t exactly gotten easier to manage with age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Republican, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (New Jersey), has also faced scrutiny for his ongoing absence from the House. Kean has been absent from the House floor since March 5, only reappearing once late last month to explain that he has been struggling with depression and hasn\u2019t provided an explanation for his absence because he is a \u201cprivate person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more ICE Reportedly Killed Maine Man in Second Fatal ICE Shooting in a Week<\/a><\/p>\n

Americans facing the same health challenges across the U.S. aren\u2019t as privileged. The U.S. is the only wealthy country in the world that doesn\u2019t guarantee a single day of paid sick leave for workers \u2014 in part due to policy positions by McConnell and his party, for which he was a de facto leader for years.<\/p>\n

As Senate majority leader in late 2020, just months into the COVID-19 pandemic and as illness and deaths were soaring, McConnell blocked a Democratic effort to extend federal paid family and sick leave benefits, preventing it from being included in Congress\u2019s second relief bill. Ultimately, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) swapped out the provision in exchange for extending a tax credit for businesses paying out sick leave.<\/p>\n

In 2022, McConnell was one of many Senate Republicans who voted against a proposal to give railway workers seven days of sick leave amid a faceoff between freight carriers and rail workers, who were threatening a nationwide strike.<\/p>\n

McConnell, a champion of anti-union \u201cright to work\u201d laws, has also obstructed pro-union policies like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act that could have given workers much more power in the workplace to demand benefits like sick leave. <\/p>\n

The Republican lawmaker has said he has been receiving \u201cexcellent care\u201d while in the hospital. But McConnell has worked to obstruct Americans from being able to access that same care, having rather infamously been a major champion of repealing the Affordable Care Act, waging many efforts to do so after its passage in 2010.<\/p>\n

Read more Marco Rubio Threatens to \u201cTeach\u201d the ICC the \u201cFull Meaning of American Resolve\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US is the only wealthy country in the world that does not guarantee paid sick leave for workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMcConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day. - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day. - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The US is the only wealthy country in the world that does not guarantee paid sick leave for workers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T22:40:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T22:40:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951\"},\"wordCount\":678,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951\",\"name\":\"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day. - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T22:40:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=951#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day. - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day. - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"The US is the only wealthy country in the world that does not guarantee paid sick leave for workers.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-07-13T22:40:11+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day.","datePublished":"2026-07-13T22:40:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951"},"wordCount":678,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951","name":"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day. - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-13T22:40:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/29d37ba042ce462fda0e2999af7dcd10.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=951#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"McConnell\u2019s Been on Sick Leave for a Month. US Workers Aren\u2019t Guaranteed a Day."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}