Sen. Chris Murphy Leaves Johns Hopkins After Stroke, Will Miss Senate Votes for Several Weeks

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., left Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore today, Nov. 6, nearly a week after suffering a stroke. He is heading to a rehabilitation center and will miss Senate votes for "several weeks," his office said.

Murphy is 53.

What happened

Murphy began feeling numbness in his arm on Saturday, Oct. 31, while at his son's hockey game. "I felt something was not right with my body and called 9-1-1 out of an abundance of caution, and I'm glad I did," he said in a statement.

He was first taken to a local hospital, where doctors found the stroke. He was then transferred to Johns Hopkins. His chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, announced the hospitalization on Sunday, Nov. 1. She said he was "awake and alert" and that the office was "optimistic he will make a full recovery."

That first announcement did not say what kind of stroke it was. Today's statement did. Murphy said he was diagnosed with "a small bleed in the thalamus region of my brain."

Dr. Jose Suarez, chief of neurosciences critical care at Johns Hopkins, called it "a small hemorrhagic stroke." A hemorrhagic stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and bleeds. According to Johns Hopkins, hemorrhagic strokes make up 13 percent of all strokes.

It is unclear what led to the stroke.

The prognosis

"He has shown tremendous progress, and at the current rate of improvement, we expect that he will make a full recovery following rehabilitation," Suarez said in a statement released by Murphy's office.

Murphy said he chose the rehab stay in order to "get back to work on the quickest timeline possible." He said he is staying in touch with his team and colleagues remotely, and that his staff is still handling legislation and constituent services.

He asked for privacy. "This has been a scary experience for me and my family," he said.

No timeline beyond "several weeks" has been given.

The political backdrop

The stroke came three days before Tuesday's midterm elections. Murphy was not on the ballot this year, but he had spent weeks campaigning for Democrats. He appeared in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida, and in Connecticut with Gov. Ned Lamont, who won reelection. He had been scheduled to appear in New Hampshire on Sunday with Rep. Chris Pappas, who won a Senate seat Tuesday.

Democrats secured majority control in the midterms. Control of the Senate and House flips from Republican majority control in January.

Murphy served in the House from 2007 to 2013 before becoming a senator. He sits on the Appropriations, Foreign Relations, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committees, and is a leading voice on immigration and gun policy. He is also deputy secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus, a role that could change in the new Congress with his party set to take the majority. He is among the Democrats seen as potential 2028 presidential candidates, and he has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.

Before the final campaign push, he made a trip to the Middle East at the start of October that included a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In early September he finished his annual four-day, roughly 70-mile "walk across Connecticut."

Other senators who have been through this

Murphy is not the first sitting Democratic senator to have a stroke in recent years. Sens. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland had strokes in 2022 and have recovered. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania had one while campaigning that same year.

Fetterman now uses live captioning in the Senate to follow conversations. He said after Murphy's hospitalization was announced: "As someone who survived a near-fatal stroke, I understand all too well how much this impacts your life. My family is rooting for Chris and his family for a full and speedy recovery."

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, posted that he and his wife were praying for Murphy. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., called Murphy a close friend and said he was glad Murphy sought care quickly.

What comes next

Congress returns Monday, Nov. 9, and Murphy will not be there. He is expected to miss votes for several weeks, and no return date has been given. Doctors say they expect a full recovery following rehabilitation.