U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has hip replacement surgery

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin underwent hip replacement surgery in Oak Brook on Thursday, according to a statement from his office.

“I look forward to a speedy recovery and climbing the Capitol steps again as soon as possible,” the 79-year-old Illinois Democrat said in the statement. Durbin called the procedure to replace his left hip, which was performed at Rush University Medical Center’s facility in Oak Brook, “routine.”

While the Senate isn’t currently in session, Durbin serves as a Democratic leader and likely will be thrust further into the spotlight when the Democratic National Convention comes to Chicago this summer.  Speculation has been widespread on whether he will run for a sixth term in 2026.

The hip replacement follows several other medical procedures Durbin has undergone in recent years. He had knee replacement surgery last year, according to his office, and in 2017 underwent a procedure to correct an abnormal heart rhythm.

Durbin said at the time of his knee replacement surgery in October that it was “(a)s a result of my unremarkable high school football career.”

In 2010, he had surgery to remove a small tumor in his stomach, which turned out to be cancer-free.

Durbin told Bloomberg Government in 2022 that he was “mindful of my own physical and mental abilities, as I watch my colleagues, some of them struggling with aging, others conquering it pretty easily.”

“So far, I am not where I was 40 years ago, but I still think I can make a contribution,” he said in the report, which focused on the prospects for a 2026 reelection bid.

Durbin was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996. He is the Senate majority whip and chair of the Judiciary Committee, and is the senior senator from Illinois, alongside Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

Whenever Durbin leaves office, the fight to replace him figures to be intense, given both Duckworth’s relative youth — she’s 56, meaning her seat might not open for decades — and the number of ambitious Democrats in Illinois.

The Senate is on a scheduled Independence Day recess this week and next week. Durbin will not return to Washington until he is cleared to travel by a doctor, his office said.