The makeup of Congress is continuing to change in dramatic ways as time goes on; in recent months and years, long serving members have either left their position or announced that they would soon be doing so. Among those in such a category is current Speaker of the House and GOP member from Wisconsin Paul Ryan, who has announced that he will not be seeking re-election at the end of his current term.
Another individual in that category is Harry Reid, who until last year when a new slate of Congressional members was installed, served as the leader of the Senate Democrats. Reid has now been revealed to have this week undergone surgery to treat pancreatic cancer; a statement from the former Nevada Senator’s family asserts that the outlook is good for Reid.
That statement, issued Monday, reads in part:
‘[Reid’s] doctors caught the problem early during a routine screening and his surgeons are confident that the surgery was a success and that the prognosis for his recovery is good… He is now out of surgery, in good spirits and resting with his family. He is grateful to his highly skilled team of doctors and to all who have sent and continue to send their love and support.’
Among those sending their support to the former Senator is Arizona GOP Senator John McCain, who himself is battling cancer. McCain is suffering from brain cancer, a diagnosis which was revealed last year.
In a statement posted to Twitter, he wrote:
‘From one cantankerous senator to another, sending my prayers & best wishes to @SenatorReid as he recovers from a successful surgery.’
Others to publicly comment on the situation include current leader of the Senate Democrats Chuck Schumer, who took over after Reid left Congress.
Schumer said:
‘Spoken to family and it seems @SenatorReid’s operation went well. We are all praying for dear Harry’s speedy recovery.’
Democratic U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who succeeded Reid, offered her own support for the former Senate Democrat, commenting:
‘Senator Reid is no stranger to a fight. He beat his opponents in the boxing ring, took on the mob in Nevada, and moved bills in the Senate that no one believed could be done. He’ll beat cancer too. I wish him a speedy and successful recovery.’
Although the Trump administration has tried to undo key accomplishments of the legislative era of which Reid was a part, it is certainly not as though the president has rushed to Twitter to offer his own support to the ailing former Senator.
On Monday, the president did, however, address his own wife being in the hospital for a procedure, which was undertaken to address a kidney condition. That procedure is said to have been successful; it was completed at Walter Reed Medical Center. She will reportedly be under medical observation for the rest of the week.
The ironic thing here is that through all of this, the Trump administration has sought policy enactments that would undercut the nation’s healthcare system through such means as dismantling the Affordable Care Act, which is one of the previously mentioned Reid-era accomplishments Trump has gone after. That’s just one part, though, of the overall dark comedy of errors that is the Trump administration.
Featured Image via Brendan Hoffman/ Getty Images
