After months away, Senator Mitch McConnell is back on the job.

Everyone knows that this is Cocaine Mitch‘s swan song, and that it’s kind of miraculous – and ridiculous – that he’s even back in the Capitol Building. Chalk it up to sheer willpower and a refusal to simply give up when there’s a Democrat governor who has presidential aspirations. Mitch McConnell announced on X yesterday evening that he was on his way back in to the Senate.

Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues.

My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made…

— U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (@SenMcConnell) September 14, 2026

He then arrived and gave a brief statement to reporters – who weren’t allowed to record it on video.

Mitch McConnell, appearing frailer and his voice slower, tells reporters: “I must admit, after two years, two decades, actually dodging your questions, I wasn't sure how many of you would be here today, but I'm glad to see you.”

"Time to get back to work, finish the job for this… pic.twitter.com/ZVITNOlwYm

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 14, 2026

But it’s not like there weren’t cameras on the Senate floor, or in other places.

McConnell was escorted onto the Senate floor in a wheelchair and was in good spirits while being greeted by his fellow colleagues. McConnell is expected to vote on a new farm bill. His appearance is particularly important in the Senate Agriculture Committee, where his vote is needed to break a potential party-line tie.

“I’m glad to see you, time to get back to work,” he enthusiastically said before entering the chamber.”

Monday marked three months since McConnell fell inside his Washington, D.C., home. He was hospitalized for several weeks and discharged from a rehabilitation facility Aug. 6.

And it seems obvious that Mitch McConnell and his team deliberately planned his return in order to give a proverbial middle finger to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear repeatedly called for McConnell and his team to provide more transparency regarding the senator’s health and ability to fulfill his duties. Beshear was again critical during last week’s Team Kentucky update.

“If he is not there on Monday, he owes an explanation to the American people, to the people of Kentucky,” Beshear said. “You can’t not show up for work and not call and talk to your boss – and his boss is the people of Kentucky.”

Well, yes, his “boss” is indeed the people of Kentucky, not YOU, Governor. Beshear, who has dreams of running for president, has been quite obvious during McConnell’s convalescence that he was itching to test the Kentucky law that states a governor can only replace a senator with another representative of the same political party. Mitch McConnell apparently ignored Beshear during this whole period, probably because McConnell is an elected representative to the federal government, and Beshear is in charge of the state government. And now it looks like Beshear has lost out on his chance to challenge the law and play with a Senate seat.

Should Mitch McConnell have retired a long time ago? Logically, yes, for his own health. Politically, one can understand why he ran again six years ago, when he was still Majority Leader and his health didn’t seem quite as fragile. Now? He’s given up leadership, he’s not running for re-election, and he’s apparently determined to make these last few months count.

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who serves with McConnell on the Agriculture and Appropriations committees, told reporters Monday he expects McConnell to be in the Senate this week for “key” votes — including one in the Agriculture panel Wednesday on the farm bill.

The senator’s staff told senior Republicans he would attend the planned Wednesday panel vote on the farm bill, which stalled earlier this summer amid his absence, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter who were also granted anonymity.

McConnell mentioned finishing the farm bill as one of his priorities during his remaining time in the Senate.

His vote is needed to get the GOP-written farm bill out of the Agriculture Committee after Chair John Boozman told POLITICO that he is intending to have another vote this week.

Thune told reporters Monday “I hope he’s available on Wednesday” to advance the farm bill and otherwise welcomed him back to work.

Like it or not, Mitch McConnell is still needed in the Senate, so long as he shows up to vote. It is concerning that video wasn’t allowed, and one can only assume it is because he sounds extremely old and frail (and McConnell was never a strong booming voice before, either). However, it sounds like McConnell is cognitively sharper than Dianne Feinstein was at the end, and since the election is coming fast upon us, the end of Cocaine Mitch’s Senate career is nigh. Let us hope that he makes it past Election Day and goes into retirement with dignity and well-wishes from his Senate colleagues.

Featured image: Senator Mitch McConnell, cropped, official portrait, public domain