Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-IL) has been missing in action from Congress due to a mysterious medical condition. His state’s senior senator, Dick Durbin (D-IL), said yesterday that Jackson needs to explain his medical situation to the state’s voters “soon,” according to Roll Call.
Durbin contrasted Jackson’s lack of transparency with Sen. Mark Kirk’s response after Kirk, Illinois’ junior Republican senator, suffered a stroke from which he has been recovering.
“As a public official though, there reaches a point when you have a responsibility to tell people what you’re facing and how things are going,” Durbin said, according to Roll Call. “Sen. Kirk has done that, and I think Congressman Jackson will face that, too.”
Jackson’s office announced that he has been on a medical leave of absence from Congress since June 10 due to exhaustion and, according to Roll Call, his office has since announced that he is dealing with “physical and emotional ailments” that he has been suffering with “privately for a long time” at an in-patient facility.
It looks like Jackson or his office will have to disclose what has caused Jackson to take the medical leave of absence sooner rather than later, especially because pressure will only ramp up after such comments from senior Democrats like Durbin.