The Elephant in the Room
Washington Post
As the new Democratic Senate gets sworn in today, the big question is whether Sen. Tim Johnson's serious medical condition will affect the party's fragile majority.
His office made it clear yesterday that the South Dakota Democrat's recovery from a brain hemorrhage will be slow and that he will not be voting anytime soon. He spent his 60th birthday last week in the intensive-care unit of George Washington University Hospital, where he has been in critical condition since emergency brain surgery Dec. 13.
He has not spoken since the surgery, said a spokesman, and he remains on a ventilator at night. Johnson is up for reelection in two years, but until then no authority can remove him from office.
"One vote really shouldn't matter if senators keep their pledge and work in a bipartisan manner," said Jim Manley, spokesman for incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.).
Julianne Fisher, a spokesman for Johnson, said his staff has sought guidance from Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), who was out for seven months in 1988 after surgery for two brain aneurysms.
Biden's office offered this first piece of advice to Johnson's staff: Stop sending out mail in the senator's name.
As the new Democratic Senate gets sworn in today, the big question is whether Sen. Tim Johnson's serious medical condition will affect the party's fragile majority.
His office made it clear yesterday that the South Dakota Democrat's recovery from a brain hemorrhage will be slow and that he will not be voting anytime soon. He spent his 60th birthday last week in the intensive-care unit of George Washington University Hospital, where he has been in critical condition since emergency brain surgery Dec. 13.
He has not spoken since the surgery, said a spokesman, and he remains on a ventilator at night. Johnson is up for reelection in two years, but until then no authority can remove him from office.
"One vote really shouldn't matter if senators keep their pledge and work in a bipartisan manner," said Jim Manley, spokesman for incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.).
Julianne Fisher, a spokesman for Johnson, said his staff has sought guidance from Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), who was out for seven months in 1988 after surgery for two brain aneurysms.
Biden's office offered this first piece of advice to Johnson's staff: Stop sending out mail in the senator's name.
posted by Andy W. Rogers | 6:08 PM
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