Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer suffered a brain injury Sunday afternoon after slipping on ice in the backyard of his North Dakota home.
Cramer, 64, said he was hospitalized and diagnosed with a “severe concussion, a seizure and a slight brain bleed” in a statement posted to Facebook Monday evening. He said he did not know when he plans to return to Washington, D.C., but that he could return quickly for a critical vote if necessary.
“Late yesterday afternoon, I walked to my backyard intending to retrieve a piece of conduit which came off my dock and was laying on the ice,” Cramer wrote. “While walking on the hill down to the dock, I stepped on ice and evidently fell hard, hitting the back of my head. I do not remember anything from the fall until arriving at Sanford Health emergency room with [wife] Kris. After seeing the emergency doctor, taking some tests, including a CT Scan, and seeing a neurologist, I was diagnosed with a severe concussion, a seizure, and a slight brain bleed.”
“The wound on my head wouldn’t stop oozing, so the doctor punched a couple of staples on the laceration and admitted me,” Cramer said. “I had a good night sleep before getting a second CT Scan. I am better today with only a slight brain bleed and pretty bad headaches. Doctors prefer I rest a little longer before returning to DC, so I do not know exactly when that will happen. It will be day to day this week, but I am ready to return quickly if events require it.”
A spokesperson for Cramer told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the senator is recovering at home.
The Senate is slated to confirm additional Trump nominees this week, including Army Secretary nominee Daniel Driscoll and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Given Senate Republicans’ 53-seat majority, Senate GOP leadership will still have enough votes to confirm the president’s nominees despite Cramer’s likely absence.
Cramer is serving in his second Senate term and is a member of several prominent Senate committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional comment from Sen. Kevin Cramer’s office.
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