Members of Congress are vulnerable. They are not supermen and women. They are made of flesh and bones, just like everyone else.
A series of unrelated events in recent days spoke to the vulnerabilities of those who work on Capitol Hill, as health concerns affected three high-profile congressional figures.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellR-Ky., came last week during the weekly Senate luncheon. DC Fire and Rescue responded to the Capitol to evaluate the GOP leader after he cut his face and sprained his wrist. It was later noted that he was wearing a brace on his arm that extended over his hand and thumb. He was initially “cleared to resume his schedule.” However, McConnell did not appear at the Capitol later that week and his office said he was working from home.
He suffered a concussion last year after falling in a hotel and was out for two months. McConnell also stiffened at several news conferences — both in Washington and Kentucky. He fell at his home in 2019, breaking his shoulder.
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Facade of the US Capitol. (Valerie Plesch/Photo Alliance via Getty Images)
The 83-year-old McConnell will leave his position as the highest-ranking Republican in the Senate at the beginning of January, but will remain in office in the room. McConnell is the longest-serving leader of either party in Senate history.
McConnell did not appear Tuesday at what is believed to be the last Senate-GOP leadership news conference of the year. He also did not attend a ceremony with the other top bipartisan, bicameral leaders of Congress to light the Capitol menorah for Hanukkah.
McConnell isn’t the only prominent lawmaker to stumble lately.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy PelosiD-California, was hospitalized in Germany after a fall that required her hip to be replaced. She was there with other lawmakers to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
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“I sat right next to her,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas. ‘She likes to wear high heels. Very high. She was standing on one of her last steps on these marble stairs that had no handrail, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground.”
McCaul later said he spoke to Pelosi on the phone.
“She had a lot of energy. Very feisty,” McCaul said of the former chairman.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi speaks during Nancy Pelosi Talks to Katie Couric on 92NY on October 24, 2024 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
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Retired Vice Admiral Barry Black is not a senator, but honestly, his impressive, booming bass is better known than the voice of many senators. Black always wears his signature bow tie and has served as Senate chaplain since 2003. He suffered a subdural hematoma and a cerebral hemorrhage last week and was admitted to hospital.
“Chaplain Black is one of the most beloved individuals in the entire Senate. Each day we begin session, he is always here to begin us with prayer, delivered with his deep sense of wisdom, grace and eloquence,” he said. majority of the Senate. Leader Chuck SchumerDY
The only thing more resonant than Black’s powerful vocal instrument are his words. Black skillfully weaves gentle, pastoral counsel into his daily intercessions. He prayed that senators “not allow fatigue or cynicism to endanger friendships” in 2019, ahead of the first impeachment trial of President-elect Trump.
Pelosi was in Luxembourg on Friday with a bipartisan congressional delegation “on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge,” a spokesperson said. (Grand Ducal Court of Luxembourg)
During the 2013 government shutdown, Black gently reprimanded senators who had shut down the government — even as U.S. Capitol Police remained on the job and were injured in a wild chase and shootout that shut down the congressional complex.
“Deliver us from the hypocrisy of trying to sound reasonable while being unreasonable,” Black prayed.
There isn’t much that’s reasonable on Capitol Hill, and perhaps the most unreasonable thing we heard this past week came from US Police Chief Tom Manger.
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While the chief was merely the messenger, Manger informed a Senate committee that his department had recorded as many as 700 individual threats of violence against lawmakers in November alone. Even more horrifying, Manger said there was a record 55 “swatting” calls made against lawmakers in their homes.
Swatting involves someone making a fake emergency call. The police then send the “SWAT” team to the address, usually startling the intended targets.
“It used to be that if you knew when you were going home, you might be able to relax,” Manger testified to the Senate Rules Committee. “Those days are over.”
On Thanksgiving Day, threats were made against the entire Connecticut House and Senate delegation.
Some lawmakers face more challenges than others.
“I unfortunately may be the record holder for swatting calls,” complained Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
And these false threats sometimes result in utter disaster for innocent bystanders.
Rome, Georgia, bomb squad member David Metroka was racing to join the rest of his team at Greene’s home when he crashed into a car driven by Tammie Pickelsimer. She later died in a hospital.
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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks ahead of the arrival of Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, during a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theater on September 24, 2024 in Savannah, Georgia. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
In fact, the threat to Greene’s home wasn’t even unfolding in real time. It was emailed to the local police department and ended up in a spam folder. Agents found the message several days later and sent the bomb squad.
How do lawmakers protect themselves in such a tense environment?
“I’m a gun owner,” Greene said. “It is extremely important to be able to defend myself if necessary.”
Lawmakers have long faced threats. Some of the most tragic and chaotic moments in recent congressional history have involved violence. January 6. The shootings of former Reps. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and Ron Barber, D-Ariz. The baseball drill in Congress that nearly killed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
And then there’s something that scares everyone who works on Capitol Hill, especially lawmakers who have been targeted before: a recent cold-blooded murder in Midtown Manhattan.
“I find it disturbing that there have been public figures who have either remained silent or dangerously close to rationalizing the murder of Brian Thompson (CEO of UnitedHealthcare), said Rep. Richie Torres, DN.Y. “If we as a society accept the idea that political differences can be resolved through violence, then that will be the end of our civilization.”
“I think the worst part of that is you saw the reaction of people supporting the killer,” added Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio.
At some point, the threats may become too great for lawmakers.
“We are not here to put ourselves or our families at risk,” said Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt.
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Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., has been a member of Congress since 1997.
“The level of contempt and hatred has risen,” Smith said. “When I arrived as a freshman, I never imagined that I was in greater physical danger because I was a member of Congress than anyone walking down the street.”
But that is the reality of Congress.
And everyone is vulnerable.
