Mitch McConnell finally returned to Senate — to cast the deciding vote for an anti-trans judge

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate floor for the first time since June — so he could confirm an anti-LGBTQ+ judge.

The former Republican Majority Leader, who was hospitalized for months after a June health incident — all while right-wing influencer Laura Loomer claimed a White House sources was telling her McConnell was brain-dead — has been the subject of internet speculation. He offered a proof-of-life photo in July to verify he was still recovering from a health incident, but continued an extended absence from the Senate continued until a Senate vote on Monday.

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What drew the aging lawmaker back to the floor? A vote to advance the appointment by President Donald Trump of Matthew R. Byrne as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio. A cloture vote passed by a single “yea,” with McConnell in favor.

As an Ohio appellate judge, Byrne wrote an opinion siding with parents who rejected their child’s trans identity. In March 2026, he wrote an opinion for the 12th Appellate District of Ohio involving a custody case with parents who were addicted to substances and were refusing to use they/them pronouns with a 14-year-old child who said they had gender dysphoria. In the opinion, Byrne wrote that a parent’s refusal to use pronouns or accept a different gender identity could not contribute to any state decision on custody.

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“Though not stated explicitly, there is some suggestion in the state’s brief and in the juvenile court’s permanent custody decision that Mother and Father were unfit as parents because they both were initially reluctant to embrace (the child’s) announcement that she was transgender and/or using male pronouns,” Byrne wrote for the court. “We disagree. There is no requirement in Ohio law that parents must unquestioningly accept and support their minor children’s claims of transsexual identity or preferred pronouns. In fact, this issue remains hotly contested socially, politically, and legally.”

Byrne’s record on reproductive rights has also drawn opposition from groups including Reproductive Freedom For All. That organization noted Byrne was the only vote on a seven-judge panel who objected to dismissing a defense of Ohio’s six-week abortion ban after a Hamilton County judge struck the law down.

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Outside of his rulings from the bench, Byrne for years was active in anti-abortion rights politics, holding affiliations with Ohio Right to Life, Cincinnati Right to Life, Warren County Right to Life, the Center for Christian Virtue, and the Federalist Society.

The Center for Christian Virtue, notably, was classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group after the organization fought the Ohio Fairness Act, which would have provided protections from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. A questionnaire for the Senate Judiciary Committee confirms he was an informal adviser to the group from 2014 through 2018.