Senator Shares Hospital Message After Stroke, Says He'll Be Back for Biden's Supreme Court Pick

Sen. Ben Ray Luján says he's on the "road to recovery" after he had a stroke in January.

The New Mexico Democrat also said he plans to be back at work in time to vote for President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee.

"I'm doing well. I'm strong," Luján, 49, said in a Sunday video message recorded from the hospital. "I'm going to make a full recovery. I'm going to walk out of here. I'm going to beat this and I'm going to be stronger once I come out."

The senator, who underwent decompressive surgery to ease swelling in his brain after a stroke in his cerebellum, also said he will enter an in-patient rehabilitation facility to conclude his recovery.

"That's going to take a few more weeks," he said. "I'm proud to report, then I'll be back on the floor of the United States Senate ... to vote on important legislation and to consider a Supreme Court nominee."

Luján checked himself into Christus St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Santa Fe after "experiencing dizziness and fatigue," his office said in a statement earlier this month. He was then transferred to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where he had the surgery.

"Rest assured, New Mexicans can know they will have a voice and a vote" during the senate confirmation process after Biden announces his nominee for the Supreme Court, Luján said.

He also thanked doctors for their care and his supporters for their prayers and well wishes.

President Biden said he will announce his pick for the Supreme Court by the end of the month. He also said he will nominate a Black woman to fill the seat left open by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Once the choice is made, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings to question Biden's nominee on her background and credentials as well as her approach to interpreting the law and the U.S. Constitution.

Democrats, who hold a narrow majority in the Senate, are already framing Biden's decision as an opportunity to bring the country together.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the president will pick someone with "such compelling personal story, of character and intellect that Republicans will have no choice but to support her in some number."

That remains to be seen, however. Some Republicans have already expressed disapproval in the decision to limit potential nominees to qualified Black women.

And following committee hearings, a full vote will take place in the Senate, where 50 Democrats have only a slight advantage over 50 Republicans with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as a tiebreaker.

That very narrow edge makes Sen. Luján's participation in the vote extremely critical for Democrats looking to confirm Biden's first nominee.