“Tonight, Senator Leahy was in his Capitol office and he was not feeling well. He was examined on Capitol Hill by the attending physician,” said his spokesman David Carle in a statement. “As a precaution, the attending physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital for observation, where he is now and where he is being assessed.”
Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate’s second-highest Democrat, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer late on Tuesday that Leahy could be back in the House on Wednesday.
“Pat Leahy’s wife, Marcelle, is a nurse, and she is with him, and that was just an abundance of caution,” said Durbin. “He was feeling uncomfortable, as you mentioned, so they wanted to give him a trip to the hospital so they could watch him for a while. She says things are going well, so we all have our fingers crossed he will be back tomorrow. ”
Leahy’s hospitalization came shortly after the impeachment trial began Tuesday afternoon with his inauguration. Leahy then swore in the rest of the Senate, and the senators went four at a time to sign a “book of oath” as judges at the trial.
The deal that Schumer and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell reached last week delayed the start of the trial, but several ceremonial functions of the trial took place on Tuesday.
The trial is effectively on hold while impeachment managers and Trump’s legal team exchange pre-trial summaries for two weeks. Final instructions were due on February 9, allowing the trial to begin in earnest.
The House’s impeachment managers, a group of Democratic lawmakers who will act as prosecutors presenting the case against Trump during the trial, delivered the only impeachment article to the Senate on Monday, which usually opens an impeachment trial. But the move to delay the start gives Democrats more time to confirm Biden’s office and potentially take on a new Covid-19 relief bill while Trump’s defense team has more time to prepare for the trial.
This story has been updated with additional reports.