I wrote a way too long response to someone about the McConnell situation on a post in this comm where they were lashing out at people who said the seat wasn’t vacant and accusing them of supporting the Republicans.

I wrote it not because I believe in US democracy or law, but because I thought it was a really interesting example of those with political power are happy to have working class people fight each other instead of turning attention to how they actively enable the status quo. This is not unique to the US. I think it is likely a feature of all modern electoral democracies. It is certainly true in Canada where the current Conservative and Liberal parties and their previous iterations serve the same function: to protect capital and generate buy-in via theater.

The US Constitution gives each House of Congress the power to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member”. Neither House has developed rules which state that the member must be “fit for duty” for lack of a better term.

I thought I could maybe make all the work I did useful by presenting a list of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives who were at some point incapacitated and their ability to serve was questioned. It’s just the ones I came across, with some sources for learning more. I have no special knowledge or experience, just autism. Maybe it inspires people to look beyond the headlines a little bit. I’m not providing comment on these cases nor suggesting what anyone “should” have done or should do in McConnell’s case.

In reverse chronological order:

• (1869) Senator James Grimes; Whig and later Rep, Iowa. The NPR cites Senator Byrd’s book on Senate historical facts to say he was incapacitated by a stroke in 1869 but remained in office until 1872. Most things I see say he did actually resign in 1869, including History of Congress : The Forty-first Congress of the United States. This document also states that the legislature of Iowa elected James B. Howell to replace Grimes in January 1870. Shocking lack of fact checking! 🤭

• (1946) Senator Carter Glass; Dem, Virginia. Despite not answering a role call since June 1942 he was re-elected and died in office in 1946. He refused calls to step down.

• (1964) Senator Clare Engle; Dem, California. There is an article in the Journal of Neurosurgery about how his brain tumor and impacts of treatment in 1963 impacted his ability to walk and speak. The article presents his vote to break a filibuster preventing the Civil Rights Act as heroic. He was brought into the senate in a wheelchair. "Clair Engle was the hundredth Senator present, and he was determined to have his vote count. Gallery spectators watched in respectful silence as several times Engle weakly lifted his crippled arm, pointed to his eye, and tried to mouth the word ‘Aye.’ "

• (1967-1972) Senator Carl Mundt; Rep, South Dakota. He had a stroke on November 23rd 1967 and refused to resign. He did not return to the Senate after his stroke, and did not seek re-election in 1972. Strikingly similar to current events: " When word of Mundt’s stroke finally was made public, it was spun with the assurance that Mundt would go through rehabilitation and return to work. But McCaughey knew that was unlikely. “The doctors advised that even with a strong rehabilitation program there was little to no chance he could return to his senatorial duties,” he wrote. " He was later stripped of his committee assignments, but was not removed from office.

• (1972) Representatives Hale Boggs and Nick Begich; both Dem, Louisiana and Alaska. The airplane they were on disappeared on October 16th, 1972 but both men were re-elected. This is given as an example of the House of Representatives vacating seats without a resignation, but both men were declared legally dead in Feb 1973 and therefore the seats were vacant by that means.

• (1981) Representative Gladys Noon Spellman; Dem, Maryland. She fell into a coma on October 31, 1980 and was re-elected on November 4th of the same year. The House passed an act declaring the seat vacant, the only such time it has done so for medical reasons. She had not yet taken the oath of office for her new term, which made it relatively simple. It is discussed in a CRS Report here.

• (1986) Representative John E. Grotberg; Rep, Illinois. He was in a 5 week coma after cardiac arrest in January 1986. An article from August 1986 stated: “He and his family decided to drop the reelection bid in May, but after the deadline for calling a special election to fill his unexpired term. The timing of the decision left the selection of a replacement GOP candidate to party officials–rather than voters–and determined that Grotberg’s district would have no vote in the House unless he returned to Capitol Hill.”

• (1988) Senator Joe Biden (yes, that one); Dem, Delaware. He was away from senate for 6 months to recover from surgery. I am not aware of any specific discussion about his capacity so maybe it doesn’t belong on here but I thought it was interesting.

• (2006) Senator Tim Johnson; Dem, South Dakota. He had a brain bleed during a live radio broadcast and was off work from December 2006 until September 2007. An article from December 2006 discussed what could happen if he died (?) and what powers there were to replace an incapacitated member.

• (2010) Senator Robert Byrd; Dem, West Virginia. After he died in 2010 there were stories about how the Senator was seriously ill in the years leading to his death. He was last seen in public on June 17 2009 but remained in office until his death on June 27, 2010. I can’t find a copy but there is a lot of second hand reference to an 2020 article in the New Yorker where is claimed that Byrd and Thurmond were “were widely known by the end of their careers to be non-compos mentis”. Thurmond retired.

• (2011) Representative Gabrielle Giffords; Dem, Arizona. She was shot in the head in January 2011 and resigned in January 2012 to “focus on recovery”. Prior to her resignation, news of how badly the shooting impacted her functioning prompted discussion on what happens when a congressperson is incapacitated