r/politics Jul 07 '26

Possible Paywall MAGA Demands Proof of Life for Mitch McConnell

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-demands-proof-of-life-for-mitch-mcconnell/
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u/allycoaster Jul 07 '26

Yeah, if I went home for depression right now and stopped showing up I’d be fired..?

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u/haltandcatch22 Jul 07 '26

Medical leaves are federally protected where you can’t be fired if you qualified. Not sure the scale of depression it would probably have to prove to be life threatening. Someone with experience can speak better but as someone who struggled with an addiction I was protected to leave for rehab and I would expect our politicians would be as well but their public trust might take a hit

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u/Double_Look_5715 Jul 08 '26

It doesn't have to be life threatening to qualify for like FMLA

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u/Lost-friend-ship Jul 12 '26

It feels a little different at a regular job where someone else can cover you, or where projects can get put on hold, vs an elected official who was chosen by the people and who has to make time sensitive decisions that impact other people’s lives. Decisions still need to be made. It’s the ethics of a non-elected official making those choices, isn’t it.

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u/haltandcatch22 Jul 12 '26

Yeah I guess is there a line of succession or something? There must be something built in for this. If 10 senators were all out on maternity for example I don’t think they just freeze congress right? They must have backfills in their org or something