Spate of health scares and violent threats highlight growing vulnerabilities for lawmakers on Capitol Hill

Members of Congress are vulnerable. They’re not super men and women. They are of flesh and bone like anyone else.

A series of unconnected events in recent days spoke to the vulnerabilities of those who work on Capitol Hill as health scares impacted three well-known Congressional figures.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., fell during the weekly Senate lunch last week. DC Fire and Rescue came to the Capitol to evaluate the GOP leader after he cut his face and sprained his wrist. He was spotted later wearing a brace on his arm which stretched across his hand and thumb. He was initially "cleared to resume his schedule." However, McConnell did not appear at the Capitol later in the week and his office said he was working from home. 

He suffered a concussion last year after falling at a hotel and was out for two months. McConnell also froze up at several news conferences – both in Washington and in Kentucky. He fell at his home in 2019, fracturing his shoulder.

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The 83-year-old McConnell leaves his position as the top Republican in the Senate in early January, but will remain in the chamber. McConnell is the longest-serving leader of either party in Senate history.

McConnell did not appear at what is presumably the final Senate GOP leadership news conference of the year Tuesday. He also didn’t attend a ceremony with the other top bipartisan, bicameral Congressional leaders to light the Capitol menorah for Hanukkah.

McConnell isn’t the only prominent lawmaker to stumble lately.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was hospitalized in Germany after a tumble that resulted in her hip needing to be replaced. She was there with other lawmakers for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.

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"I was right next to her," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas. "She likes to wear high heels. Very high. She was on one of her last steps on this marble staircase that didn't have a railing, and she lost her footing and fell to the ground."

 McCaul later said he spoke to Pelosi on the phone.

 "She had a lot of energy. Very spunky," McCaul said of the former Speaker.

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Retired Rear Admiral Barry Black isn’t a senator, but frankly, his commanding, rumbling bass is better known than the voice of many senators. Always sporting his signature bow tie, Black has served as Senate Chaplain since 2003. He suffered a subdural hematoma and bleeding on the brain last week and has been hospitalized.

"Chaplain Black is one of the most beloved individuals in the entire Senate. Every day we gavel into session, he is always here to start us off in prayer, delivered with his profound sense of wisdom, grace, and eloquence," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The only thing more resonant than Black’s powerful vocal instrument are his words. Black artfully weaves friendly, pastoral counsel into his daily intercessions. He prayed that senators "not permit fatigue or cynicism to jeopardize friendships" in 2019 ahead of the first impeachment trial of President-elect Trump.

During the 2013 government shutdown, Black gently chided senators who shuttered the government – even though U.S. Capitol Police remained on the job and were injured during a wild car chase and shootout which locked down the Congressional complex.

"Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable," prayed Black.

There’s not a lot which is reasonable on Capitol Hill, and perhaps the most unreasonable thing heard over the past week came from U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger.

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While the chief was just the messenger, Manger informed a Senate committee that his department recorded a staggering 700 individual threats of violence lodged against lawmakers in November alone. More horrifically, Manger said there were a record 55 "swatting" calls made against lawmakers at their homes.

"Swatting" is where someone phones in a fake distress call. Police then dispatch the "SWAT" team to the address, generally rattling the intended targets.

"It used to be that if you know when you went home, you might be able to relax a little bit while," Manger testified to the Senate Rules Committee. "Those days are gone."

Threats were called in on Thanksgiving Day to the entire Connecticut House and Senate delegation.

Some lawmakers face more problems than others.

"I'm sadly the record holder possibly for swatting calls," lamented Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

And these faux threats sometimes result in utter calamity for innocent bystanders.

Rome, Ga., bomb squad member David Metroka was racing to join the rest of his team at Greene’s house when he crashed into a car driven by Tammie Pickelsimer. She later died at a hospital.

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In fact, the threat to Greene’s residence wasn’t even unfolding in real time. It was emailed to local police and wound up in a junk email folder. Officers found the message several days later and dispatched the bomb squad.

How do lawmakers protect themselves in such a supercharged environment?

"I'm a gun owner," said Greene. "It’s extremely important to be able to defend myself if need be."

Lawmakers have long faced threats. Some of the most tragic, chaotic moments in recent Congressional history have involved violence. January 6. The shooting of former Reps. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and Ron Barber, D-Ariz. The Congressional baseball practice shooting, which nearly killed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.

And then there is something else which spooked everyone who works on Capitol Hill, especially lawmakers who have been targeted before: A recent cold-blooded assassination in Midtown Manhattan.

"I find it troubling that there have been public figures who either have been silent or have come dangerously close to rationalizing the assassination of (UnitedHealthcare CEO) Brian Thompson," said Rep. Richie Torres, D-N.Y. "If we as a society accept the notion that political differences can be resolved by violence, then that's the end of our civilization."

 "I think the worst part of that is when you saw the reaction where people are supporting the murderer," added Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio.

At some point, the threats may be too much for lawmakers.

"We're not here to put ourselves or our families in danger," said Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., has served in Congress since 1997.

"The level of contempt, the level of hatred has risen," said Smith. "When I arrived as a freshman, I would have never for a second thought that I was in any greater physical danger because I was a member of Congress than anybody else walking in the street."

 But that’s the reality of Congress.

 And everyone is vulnerable.