WASHINGTON – The Senate’s longest-serving member, 80-year-old Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, was taken to a hospital Tuesday evening for observation after not feeling well, a spokesman said.
Leahy was taken there for observation “out of an abundance of caution" after being examined by Congress' attending physician, said Leahy spokesman David Carle.
Hours earlier, Leahy commenced his role of presiding over the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump by swearing in his fellow lawmakers.
The actual trial will begin next month. Leahy is presiding because he is the Senate's president pro tempore, a largely ceremonial post.