House Majority Whip and Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise was readmitted Wednesday night to the Intensive Care Unit at MedStar Washington Medical Center in serious condition, the hospital announced.
“Congressman Steve Scalise has been readmitted to the Intensive Care Unit due to new concerns for infection,” the hospital said. “His condition is listed as serious.” The issue of infection was one the doctors had expected to encounter, they said, and Scalise’s condition was also expected to vacillate due to the complex nature of his injuries.
Scalise, 51, and four other people were hurt in an attack last month by a political extremist who opened fire on a Republican Congressional baseball team practice in Simpson Field, a park in a quiet Alexandria, Virginia residential area.
The gunman, later identified as James Hodgkinson, was killed after U.S. Capitol Police and other security personnel returned fire. The presence of adequate security was due in large part to the participation of Scalise in the game; as a high-ranking government figure, he rated significant security protection.
But Scalise, a top ally of Israel on Capitol Hill, was shot in the hip; the bullet shattered bones, damaged internal organs and caused severe bleeding. He was taken to the hospital and initially listed in fair but stable condition. After surgery that changed to critical condition when the extent of his injuries were made public, and a number of surgeries followed.
The Congressman’s condition had been improving earlier in the week, however, and was said by his GOP Tennessee colleague, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe to be “just out of bed,” although not yet able to eat.
Scalise was behind the Congressional resolution in January 2017 slamming United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 that accused Israel of “flagrant violations” of international law. “It’s time we stand up with our ally and best friend in the world, Israel,” he said following passage of the House resolution. Congressman Scalise made good on that promise, telling Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington DC after a February 2017 meeting that “the Jewish State of Israel can count on the full support of Congress.”