WASHINGTON — Vermont Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, the Senate’s president pro tempore and Appropriations Committee chairman, was discharged from a Washington-area hospital Friday after spending a night for “tests and observation,” his office said in a statement.
The 82-year-old Leahy, who is retiring at the end of the current Congress, was admitted to the hospital Thursday after not feeling well. His office did not disclose the nature of the illness or the types of tests that were conducted.
But after spending an “uneventful night” in the hospital, Leahy and his wife Marcelle planned to fly to Vermont Saturday morning for “a full schedule of planned events in the days ahead,” the statement said.
Leahy underwent hip replacement surgery in June after suffering a fall at his McLean, Virginia, home. He had been using a wheelchair when he returned to the Capitol over the summer but was walking last month. It wasn’t clear whether this week’s illness was related to the hip replacement.
As Senate president pro tempore, a position held by the longest-serving senator of the majority party, Leahy is third in the presidential line of succession.
As Appropriations chairman, Leahy helped Democrats negotiate the recent stopgap funding law extending fiscal 2022 spending levels through Dec. 16. The measure, which also included some so-called anomalies and supplemental funding like more aid for Ukraine, is meant to be a bridge toward an omnibus package that he wants to see enacted this year before he departs.
“Patrick and Marcelle are deeply grateful for the expressions of concern and support that they have received since last night,” the office statement said.
(Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.)
