Congress’ succession gap explained | Fox News

Representative Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have a lot in common.

Both have long absences from Capitol Hill due to health reasons.

Kean was out for months this winter and spring. But no one knew exactly what was going on until he returned in June. Neither Kean nor his office nor his family have said a word about why the congressman is on the run.

After his return, Kean revealed that he had been hospitalized for a long time due to depression.

McConnell’s absence is similarly mysterious.

His office announced in June that the Kentucky Republican was hospitalized and received “excellent care.”

But it took weeks to learn that McConnell had been hospitalized for a fall and subsequent pneumonia.

The lack of information has fueled conspiracy theories about whether McConnell is alive. This led Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) to send a letter of inquiry into the senator’s health.

He told SiriusXM that he heard “nothing, not an email, not a letter, not a call.”

But the similarities between Kean and McConnell don’t end there.

During Kean’s absence, hardly a day went by without someone asking me how they could fill his seat. The same has been true of McConnell for the last month and a half.

There is conjecture as to whether the governors of their states, or even the House of Representatives or the Senate, might declare their seats vacant for not showing up to “work.” American voters are angry right now.

Prices increased. They are disconnected from politics.

They at least want to know that the people they elected are in office. And if it isn’t, voters believe they are entitled to an explanation from those who serve them.

WATCH: MLAS EXPLAIN WHERE THEY STAND ON CONGRESSIVE BOUNDARIES AFTER RECENT HEALTH PROBLEMS

No one got timely clarity from Kean or McConnell.

This brings us to why some voters think there should be a mechanism to remove MPs who are injured or out of action for long periods of time.

It’s not that easy.

According to Article I, Section 2, the constitutional qualifications for a person to serve in the House are as follows: “No Person shall be a Representative, who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and shall not have been a Citizen of the United States for seven years, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be elected.”

The Senate’s powers are similar, as set forth in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution:

“No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and shall not have completed nine years of age, nor be a Citizen of the United States, nor shall at the time of his election be a resident of the State for which he was elected.”

In the 5th paragraph of Article I of the Constitution, it is stated that “Each Assembly shall have control over the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.” It continues: “Expel one Member with the consent of two-thirds.”

Therefore, the Constitution is clear about the requirements for joining the House or Senate.

This also gives both bodies the ability to refuse to seat someone or even remove them from office.

But despite giving these powers to Congress, the Constitution is silent on why the House or Senate cannot seat an individual. And the Constitution is vague about the reasons for expelling a member of parliament.

We must therefore rely on the standard set in Article I, Section 3, regarding the qualifications of members of the House and Senate.

It doesn’t say anything about health. It says nothing about mental capacity. It says nothing about absenteeism or dereliction of duty.

It just sets the minimum criteria for people to serve in Congress. And if the House or the Senate decide they don’t want you here, they can either lock you up or throw you out.

In addition to the House and Senate having to expel someone, a governor must also declare a seat vacant. And there’s nothing anyone can do to force anyone to step aside.

The late Sen. Carter Glass (D-Va.), of Glass-Steagall fame, fell ill in 1942, if you know the banking law. He was absent from the Senate for four years before he died. Glass has rejected calls for him to resign.

The late Senator Karl Mundt (R.S.D.) suffered a stroke in 1969 and was unable to speak. Mundt’s wife has rejected calls from Senate Republicans demanding his resignation. Mundt remained in office until early 1973, when his term expired.

Other lawmakers had missed some of their time due to illness in the years before Kean and McConnell.

US Capitol building in Washington DC (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The late Rep. Lane Evans (D-Ill.) was long gone as he suffered from Parkinson’s Disease in the 1990s and 2000s.

Former Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) suffered a stroke in 2012. He missed more than a year before returning to the Senate.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) missed several months after the GOP Congressman was shot at baseball practice in 2017.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was away for several months after struggling with depression shortly after joining the Senate in 2023.

These are just some of the examples where MPs have missed time due to illness.

There is only one instance in recent history where the House or Senate has taken action because of someone’s health condition.

On October 31, 1980, the late Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman (D-Md.) suffered a heart attack.

Voters re-elected Spellman a few days later. However, Spellman fell into a coma and was unable to take the oath of office when the new Congress convened in January 1981.

Regardless, the House took the extraordinary step of voting to pay him even though he was not a member. It was clear that the Maryland Democrat would never recover enough to hold office again. The House then declared his seat vacant, forcing Maryland to hold a special election.

So the House did not impeach Spellman because he was incompetent.

He was not a member at that stage. However, in accordance with Article I, paragraph 5 of the Constitution, the Assembly asserted its authority “to decide on the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members”.

Spellman was deemed not qualified.

The former President of the Maryland Senate then ran for the seat and won the special election. That’s how former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) came to Congress.

Spellman lived until 1988 and never regained consciousness.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S LATEST MOVE WAS REFLECTED IN THE SENATE WHEN HER BROTHER WAS REQUIRED TO ‘CONTINUE PEDALING’

Last week, before the Senate swore in Sen. Darline Graham, R.S.C., I received a call from someone asking if she was a “full senator.” I answered in the affirmative.

Either you are or you’re not.

You can vote. You can take part in committees. You can speak on the Senate floor. You have an office in the Capitol complex. It doesn’t matter how you got there. Darline Graham was a senator appointed after the death of her late brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, R.S.C.

The Senate gave Graham the same committee assignments as his brother. That’s when someone asked him if he could vote on the Judiciary Committee.

Same answer. He’s a senator.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) appointed him to serve out at least the remainder of Lindsey’s term, which ends in January.

Darline Graham is now running for the full term, which begins in January. But to secure the Republican nomination, they first need to get through the primaries and potentially the runoffs. Then earn the entire term in November.

Note that we are talking about McMaster’s appointment of Darline Graham to the Senate. All but four states allow the appointment of senators. However, the Constitution prohibits appointments to the Parliament.

So if a House member dies or resigns, the state must fill the seat through a special election. This is why some Assembly seats remain vacant for long periods of time.

Lindsey Graham’s seat was vacant just two days before McMaster decided to bring in the late senator’s sister.

Newly appointed U.S. interim Senator Darline Graham Nordone (R), Sen. Tim Scott, R.S.C. (L) speaks at a press conference announcing his appointment to fill the vacancy created by the death of his brother, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, at the statehouse in Columbia, S.C., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (Sean Rayford/AP Photo)

That’s why Republicans’ control of the House of Representatives is so tenuous right now.

We currently have 431 members. Its breakdown includes 218 Republicans, 212 Democrats and one Independent running with the GOP. The extended absences of Kean and, to a lesser degree, Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) due to a major heart condition made it difficult for the GOP majority to operate.

Resignations or deaths can really shift the balance of power.

But when someone takes a House or Senate seat, he’s there, too. There is no succession plan regarding healthcare.

Average Americans argue that if they don’t go to work, they will lose their jobs. Even if he has a serious health condition.

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But the same thing is happening in Congress. Every two or six years. People vote for the House of Representatives and the Senate.

These MPs may actually lose their jobs. However, this may take a very long time.