WASHINGTON – Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the lawmaker who was called to preside over President Trump’s impeachment process, has been hospitalized, his spokesman said.
The 80-year-old president of the senate, pro tempore, was taken to a local hospital and is under observation after complaining that he was feeling unwell after overseeing the swearing-in of senators as jurors in the trial earlier Tuesday.
“Tonight, Senator Leahy was in his office at the Capitol and was not feeling well,” Leahy spokesman David Carle said in a statement.
“He was examined in the Capitol by the attending physician. Out of an abundance of caution, the attending physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital for observation, where he is now and where he is being evaluated, ”he said.
Leahy sounded muffled and breathless at times during the procedure.
Leahy, a stalwart of the Senate, has served as a senator for 46 years and was sworn in as president pro tempore of the Senate last week for the third time.
The constitutional role makes Leahy responsible for chairing the new Democrat-controlled Senate, including the upcoming impeachment trial.
In a statement, the Vermont lawmaker explained that he would be overseeing the lawsuit in place of Supreme Court Justice John Roberts because Trump is no longer president.
It is unclear how long Leahy will be hospitalized, what his condition is, and whether his ill health will delay the process that begins February 8.
Following Tuesday’s swearing-in, more than 45 GOP lawmakers voted to declare Trump’s impeachment process unconstitutional, all but assuring that the impeachment article accusing the former president of instigating the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 was dead on arrival. will be.