Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was taken to hospital in Washington DC after he tripped and fell at a hotel, a spokesperson for the senator said.

“This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment,” David Popp, communications director for McConnell said in a statement.

In 2019, McConnell, who is 81 and a survivor of childhood polio, tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, suffering a shoulder fracture.

The Senate has been without several members recently due to illness.

The office of Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, said she was taken to hospital last week to be treated for shingles.

Senator John Fetterman, 53, who suffered a stroke during his campaign last year, was expected to remain out for some weeks as he received care for clinical depression.

The Democratic absences have proven a challenge for Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who is already navigating a very narrow 51-49 majority.

The Republicans, as the minority party, have had an easier time with intermittent absences. It is unclear if McConnell will be out on Thursday and if that would have an effect on scheduled votes. South Dakota Senator John Thune is the Senate’s No 2 Republican.

McConnell was first elected to the US Senate in 1984. He served as the Senate majority leader from 2015 to 2021, and the Senate minority leader since then.

Before his election to the Senate, he served as judge-executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky from 1978.