Mitch McConnell Reportedly Returning To Cast Vote On Notorious Pork-Barrel Bill

Republican lawmakers speculated that Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell would return to Capitol Hill in time to vote on a pork-barrel farm bill Wednesday, Politico reported Monday.

McConnell’s staff reportedly told senior Republicans that he would return for a committee meeting to advance the farm bill out of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which stalled during his three-month absence, anonymous sources told Politico. The senator’s staff declined to tell the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday if he would return.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday that he hoped McConnell would return, though he did not confirm or deny whether the return would happen.

The farm bill, titled the Agricultural Act of 2026, contained a long list of programs, including crop insurance, commodity support, nutrition assistance and conservation funding. One of its programs includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides lower-income individuals with financial help for groceries. The bill includes language to allow a year-round nationwide sales of 15% ethanol (E15).

More than 300 agricultural groups urged Congress to pass the bill.

The Senate Agriculture Committee failed to advance the bill in August after every Democrat voted “no.” Democrats opposed provisions requiring states to share the cost of providing SNAP benefits and demanded a two-year delay before implementing new cost-share rules to protect states with high error rates.

McConnell’s presence for the next committee vote would boost the chances of the bill’s advancement.

The House passed its own version called the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026. Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tried to remove the Save Our Bacon Act, a proposed bill that would prevent state and local governments from regulating how livestock and agricultural products are produced in other states, from the bill.

The House Rules Committee did not allow a floor vote on Luna’s proposed amendment to strip it from the bill.

The Senate’s version does not include the Save Our Bacon Act or a pesticide liability shield.

McConnell has not appeared since his June 14 hospitalization after suffering a fall in his Washington, D.C., residence. Staffers released two photographs of McConnell in the hospital alongside his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, while the public questioned McConnell’s condition.

 Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings stated on July 7 that they all spoke to McConnell for about 20 minutes and discussed several issues. McConnell’s staff sent an email including all of their statements, which suggested a coordinated effort.

The DCNF requested a video interview with McConnell on July 8, to which his staff said they would keep the request “on hand.” Staff had yet to follow up on the DCNF’s interview request as of Thursday. McConnell left the hospital on Aug. 6 and underwent physical therapy.

While married to McConnell, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials appointed Chao to at least four Chinese government positions since 2008, the DCNF exclusively learned. She did not disclose any of the reported Chinese positions during her Senate confirmation hearing in January 2017, which required her to list all positions held within the last ten years.

Chao did not immediately return from her trip to China while McConnell was hospitalized, arguing it did not warrant an immediate return.