I'm no attorney, but I feel like a federal judge could order the hospital to report on McConnell's condition.

[flashman13]

Again, the question is who has the legal standing to petition the court? My first guess is that Thune, being the majority leader of the Senate, would certainly have standing to find out the status of McConnell's physical condition. I will assume that since Thune must be part of the coverup he will not be filing a petition.

The real question is does Democratic Governor Beshear have standing to file a petition on behalf of the citizens of Kentucky that McConnell represents in the Senate? Someone needs to get an answer to this question ASAP.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this situation?

[lame54]

1. Mortician/deceased confidentiality

[ColoringFool]

16. Who is deceased in the OP's scenario?

[CrispyQ]

2. I would think the governor of the state on behalf of the citizens of Kentucky.

I'll bet this is one of those many things that isn't spelled out in their state constitution, just like the many, many things in our national constitution, that will let the GOP go against precedent & do what they please.

It's exhausting & what's worse, IDK if anyone on our side is keeping a list of loopholes we need to close.

[flashman13]

5. I believe it is up to the judge to determine if the petitioner has standing.

I am going to guess the governor has wide authority on what actions he can take unless otherwise prohibited by law. Could the Republican Kentucky Attorney General thwart Beshear or could he act independently of the AG?

[Blues Heron]

3. Puke evil lies catching up to them. They are never honest brokers, toss them all out.

[onenote]

4. No they couldn't.

No one has standing. No one has a legal right.

[flashman13]

6. That is pretty categorical. Are you an attorney? Can you support that opinion?

[onenote]

7. Yes, I'm an attorney.

And the governor, or the citizens of KY, have no legal right that they could invoke. Nothing in the law requires a senator to show up for work -- if they don't the options are for the voters to reject them if they stand for election -- not an issue here since McConnell is not running. Or for the Sente to expel him. Not going to happen.

I'm not sure why so many here are hell bent to have McConnell replaced. We're better off with the repubs having one less vote. And if Beshear tries to appoint someone it's going to be tied up in court and the Senate repubs will refuse to seat whoever Beshear appoints, unless of course it was a MAGA republican.

[Mz Pip]

10. About appointing a replacement

I may be wrong about this, but isn’t the governor required to appoint someone from the same party as the seat being vacated? Seems I read that somewhere a while back. If that’s the case, this subterfuge is even more bizarre.

[onenote]

11. Kentucky for a time had a law requiring appointment of a replacement from the same party

but they repealed it and passed new legislation providing only for replacing a senator via a special elections, which is the default procedure under the US Constitution. Beshear has asserted that the new legislation violates the Kentucky constitution, under which he claims he can appoint anyone he wants, but that issue would end up being decided in court and the repubs in the Senate would refuse to seat an appointed replacement while that litigation was pending and probably wouldn't be resolved before the end of the current Congress.

[flashman13]

25. The Republican legislature removed Beshear's ability to make an appointment.

Replacing a dead Senator would require a special election. The point here is that if McConnell is dead, a special election has to take place before some date (I'm not certain of the date, but it is sometime early August) after which a special election can not be held. The coverup (if there is one) is to prevent that special election. They are afraid that Massie might jump in and be elected the new Senator. I'm pretty sure he would go out of his way to defy Trump. So are they.

Circling back to the beginning, IMHO the citizens of Kentucky need to know if their Senator is dead or alive.

[orthoclad]

37. Doesn't the governor have a responsibility to appoint?

whether it's same party or not, which is irrelevant. He needs to know if he must act.

[Mysterian]

17. There is a requirement in the law for a state to have two live senators

There is cause to believe a state has one un-alive senator.

Maybe you missed that detail, counselor.

[onenote]

20. Can you provide a citation? Is this a Kentucky law requirement?

I certainly can't find any such requirement. The US Constitution, which is superior to anything in the Kentucky Constitution, provides that "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years" But it also anticipates vacancies occurring and there being a period of time where a state does not have two senators in office. It also allows the Senate to refuse to seat a senator and it provides that once seated the only way a Senator can be removed is by a 2/3 vote of the Senate.

If the Constitution literally required what you say it does, there wouldn't be a way for a Senator to be removed or resign and there would be an automatic process, such as with the Presidency, for the immediate ascension to office of a replacement if a Senator died.

In short, I don't know where you got your information but it's wrong.

[Mysterian]

28. "shall be composed of two Senators"

Maybe you missed that part.

[onenote]

33. Right. And there can be vacancies.

Maybe you missed that part.

So if McConnell is alive, there are two Senators. And if he's dead, there's a vacancy, subject to being filled at some point, as provided under the Constitution.

There is no legal requirement that there be two Senators in office at all times.

[Mysterian]

41. The law requires two senators

You argued it does not. You were wrong. Have the moral courage to admit it.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

42. The Constitution requires two Senate seats

Not that there must always be two seated Senators. There is no requirement that the Senate seats must be continuously occupied.

[onenote]

43. Correct. Not that it will matter to the person who has decided they are a legal expert.

Last edited Sun Jul 12, 2026, 10:49 PM - Edit history (1)

When they aren't. And I don't need courage to admit I'm right when I'm right. And I'm right. I quoted the constitution, which states the Senate shall be composed of two senator per state but also addresses the circumstance of there being a vacancy.

The poster that I was trying to explain this to still seems to believe that the law requires two live senators at all times. Which makes me wonder what he thinks about the current situation in South Carolina, which only has one live Senator at the moment. Does he think some law is being broke there?

[yardwork]

44. I'm not an attorney but I think HIPAA also applies.

I can't imagine how anybody would have the right to know McConnell's personal health information other than himself and somebody he might appoint as health care POA.

HIPAA is very specific about this.

[onenote]

45. Correct.

[yardwork]

47. Thanks.

I also agree with you that I don't see the big deal here. It is weird that McConnell disappeared for six weeks but maybe he just needed a break.

In any case it helps us to have McConnell absent. It helps us that it makes the GOP look like they're in disarray. It helps us to have their apparently feeble, possibly dead, whoops no he's not, 80 year old missing senator dominating the news. It makes the GOP look weak. It reminds voters that their politicians are old.

I'd be very embarrassed if this was happening with a Democrat.

[Skittles]

19. what if he is being abused?

seriously, it is obvious he is being used for political gain

[orthoclad]

38. Yeah. Wellness check.

I picture having a police team go in shooting like in some "wellness checks"

[Mz Pip]

8. It's weird.

Why contribute to speculation and conspiracy theories when a simple phone call to the Governor would clear it up?

[Ms. Toad]

9. It's clear you are not an attorney.

The issue isn't standing. It is HIPAA. The hospital cannot release information about his condition without his consent. McConnell doesn't lose his right to medical privacy simply because he holds office.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

13. Wondering how well HIPAA would work if it were a Democratic Senator

or Rep

[Ms. Toad]

15. The exact same way.

The difference would be that most Democrats would be forthcoming. But that has to do with character, not HIPAA.

[onenote]

14. Yep, HIPAA definitely would prevent the hospital or other third parties from releasing such information without consent.

Of course, McConnell could authorize it or release it himself. But there is no way to force him to do that.

At my firm, we have to take a course in HIPAA so that we are schooled in its ins and outs, and there are many ways to get in trouble by releasing medical information about someone.

[flashman13]

29. Again, I'm not an attorney, but a federal judge has immense power and can more than likely over ride HIPPA.

Especially in a case that is in fact vitally important to large numbers of people.

Back to standing. Someone has to petition the court before a judge can do anything.

[Ms. Toad]

34. No one had standing.

HIPAA is very clear. Everyone has a near absolute right to medical privacy.

[flashman13]

35. Do HIPAA rights apply to a corpse? I think that is what we are dealing with here.

Remember the ambulance video? The EMTs didn't seem to be in a rush to render aid to whom ever or whatever they stuffed into that ambulance.

These are Republicans. Their coverups go all the way back to Nixon.

[Ms. Toad]

36. Yes. For 50 years.

So you've got around 49 years and 10 months. And since he has reappeared, it seems unlikely he is dead.

[orthoclad]

40. He has not "reappeared":

Someone sent a typed statement to the press.

[yardwork]

48. Why is this vitally important to large numbers of people?

[orthoclad]

39. HIPAA only applies to medical staff

Journalists or politicians could request information. The governor needs to know if he should appoint a replacement.

Does HIPAA apply to janitors?

This is what kills me. We always say "It's too haaaard". Republicans never say that; they find a way. Like with Roe.

[yardwork]

49. That is incorrect. HIPAA applies to everyone.

Yes, the janitor in the hospital is constrained by HIPAA and would be fired if they revealed a patient's private medical information.

I know this for a fact, as I had annual HIPAA training for decades as a requirement of my job even though I'm not medical or healthcare staff.

Also, I see no benefit to Democrats to intervening in this situation, which is nothing but awkward to the GOP. There's absolutely no need for us to intervene.

[orthoclad]

50. I stand corrected. It applies to hospital staff.

And, I assume, his personal doctors - which is why I said "medical".

[yardwork]

51. It applies to everyone who could have access to his personal medical information.

It's a good law. It's part of Obamacare. HIPAA protects everyone's health privacy.

HIPAA prevents people from looking up your medical records. You would be surprised how many people could potentially access your medical data - the list extends well beyond hospital staff.

It's an important and good law.

[orthoclad]

52. Like Meta?

They scrape user histories and quite a bit of identifiable medical information from hospital web pages - the ones that host Meta pixels.I posted extensively about this several years ago.

When it comes to profits, expensive lawyers talk.

[yardwork]

46. Sorry, I hadn't seen your post when I made mine upthread.

Thanks for confirming what I understand about HIPAA. I had mandatory HIPAA training every year for decades and a lot of what DUers are suggesting is against the law.

[patphil]

12. I don't care about Senator McConnell's condition. I hope he doesn't come back to the Senate.

Last edited Sun Jul 12, 2026, 07:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Let his seat stay open until the next Congress is seated in January of 2027. McConnell was retiring anyway, so either Andy Barr (R) or Charles Booker (D). will be sworn in then.
With the sudden death of Senator Graham, and if McConnell doesn't come back, the republicans will be at 51-47 until then. Both of these senators routinely vote the Trump line, and would approve any nominee or bill put before them.
It's better if they're not there.

[flashman13]

30. The live McConnell has been defying Trump in recent months.

[mopinko]

18. i think beshear shd just declare the seat vacant and schedule an election. even if he's alive,

he’s not in the seat and unlikely to recover enough to b, since he was barely alive b4 the heart attack.
let them prove he’s competent.

if he wants to run in 28, he best prove he can play some hardball.

[tritsofme]

21. What utter nonsense. Why not just have every Democratic governor declare every Republican office vacant?

Would that prove they are playing “hardball”?

Some folks just want their own dictator.

[mopinko]

23. is every republican office vacant?

i just want the 1 where no 1 knows if the guy is even alive, and there’s good reason to think he’s not. and even if he is, the chances r he wont b able to return,
when mark kirk had a stroke and missed almost a yr of his term, i thought that seat shd b declared vacant, too.

there shd b a law, but there isnt. meanwhile the ppl of ky r getting screwed out of their representation.

[tritsofme]

24. And why wasn't Kirk's seat declared vacant? Because governors simply don't have the sort of arbitrary power you imagine.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

22. No judge is going to touch this

Because there is no reason for them to do so. Nobody has standing. Not his constituents. Not the KY Governor. Nobody.

[Bristlecone]

26. CNN has him sitting up and smiling on their home page

With a proof of life paper next him.

He took a fall it says.

[Ocelot II]

27. Nope.

[LeftInTX]

31. He's in rehab after a fall.

It's in the news.

[lame54]

32. McConnell. Someone called him Schrodengers Senator