Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who continues to serve as one of Kentucky's two Republican senators, has long drawn controversy because of his ailing health. Episodes that include freezing during a press conference, disappearing from public view for several months after a hospitalization, and apparently needing aides to tell him how to vote have made McConnell a recurring example of senators who remain in office long after they are no longer fit to serve.

When confronted about the issue, his Republican colleagues have made it clear they would rather not answer any questions.

"Republicans are literally running away from questions about Mitch McConnell," Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling reported for The New Republic on Thursday. According to her account, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul refused to acknowledge RawStory's Adam Nichols when the digital site's editor in chief asked about McConnell's ability to remain in office, rushing into an elevator while avoiding eye contact.

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, Houghtaling wrote, "ran the same playbook," simply muttering, "Oh man," as he walked away from Nichols. As the elevator doors closed, Wicker relented and said that McConnell is a "great guy."

Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer responded—sort of. She glared at Nichols when he asked whether McConnell could serve out the rest of his term. "I think he is, yes," Fischer said.

When Nichols noted that McConnell "hasn't been speaking at all in the media" and "hasn't done a 10- or 15-second video," Fischer pushed back: "Does he need to? I don't think he needs to. You know he was here for a Farm Bill vote, and he voted. People are saying he didn't respond—no, he voted. And he was very quiet to begin with."

The dispute goes beyond whether McConnell has appeared publicly. A senator's term ordinarily continues unless the senator resigns, dies, reaches the end of the term, or is expelled by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. That makes questions about a member's ability to serve politically and institutionally consequential, even when colleagues decline to discuss them.

McConnell's condition has also drawn assessments from outside observers. In September, psychologist Dr. John Garrison argued, based on footage of McConnell's first vote after returning to the Senate, that the longtime senator seems to have "absolutely no idea what is going on."

"He is unmoving," Garrison said. "Just has a thumbs up and they are moving him along fast. This is a lot of what we're seeing from Mitch McConnell: frozen positions, his facial expression unchanging, no responsiveness to the environment around him. I think comprehension-wise, he is not comprehending what is being spoken to him. He does not understand what he is doing."

In July, licensed speech-language pathologist and political content creator Hilary Shae, who specializes in concussion recovery, offered the opinion that McConnell is "unfit to serve."

"Even if he is alive, he is unfit to serve, and he should not be finishing out his term through January," Shae said. "Mitch McConnell is 84 years old, and his health history is not good. He has a history of multiple falls — one of which was significant for concussion — and what appeared to be TIAs, or transient ischemic attacks, and it does not appear that he really came back to his full self. He did not return to his baseline after his concussion."