Inside the marriage of Sen. Mitch McConnell and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao

• Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and his wife, Elaine Chao, wed in 1993.
• Chao served as Transportation Secretary during President Donald Trump’s first term.
• McConnell, 84, has been hospitalized for nearly 4 weeks, with few details available about his health.

In November 2022, McConnell voted against protections for interracial and same-sex marriages in the Respect for Marriage Act.

On June 14, McConnell was hospitalized after emergency responders were dispatched to his address.

He has remained hospitalized for almost four weeks.

McConnell’s office released statements saying that the senator “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital” and is “receiving excellent care,” but has not disclosed details of his condition.

Dispatcher recordings indicated that emergency responders performed CPR on an “unconscious” individual, who was not named, The New York Times reported.

Republican Sens. John Thune and John Barrasso said they had spoken with McConnell on the phone, with Barrasso describing McConnell on Tuesday as “fully engaged” and “eager to get back to the Senate.”

Chao was in China when McConnell was hospitalized and did not immediately return.

Chao was in China on June 12 — two days before McConnell was hospitalized — and met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on June 17 in Beijing during what a spokesperson told The Louisville Courier Journal was “a long-planned trip in China to support her family’s philanthropic endeavors.”

“The senator’s health did not warrant an immediate return to the US,” the spokesperson said.

She has since returned to the US.