Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky has a message for Sen. Mitch McConnell: either resign or provide an explanation for his extended absence from the Senate along with information about his health.

In a fresh, direct letter to McConnell, the former Senate majority leader who hasn't been seen in public for 43 days since being admitted to the hospital, Beshear expressed doubts that the Democratic governor believes the pictures, another of which was made public earlier on Monday, accurately depict the senator's health.

"I am addressing this letter to Senator McConnell with the understanding that he is not incapacitated by consciousness or cognition and that he is able to read and react verbally. In the letter, which was obtained by CNN and was written on state government letterhead, Beshear states, "If the Senator is unable to respond for either of those or other conditions, consider this letter a demand for his Senate staff to be honest and transparent with the people of Kentucky."

In a statement issued earlier on Monday, McConnell's office stated that although he is not yet medically cleared to leave a rehab center, he wants to return to Kentucky. An update from the Office of the Attending Physician, which attends to Congressmen's medical requirements, was included in his message.

That's insufficient, according to Beshear, who is thinking about running for president in 2028.

"Your true condition, including your ability to speak, reason, or perform your obligations as a senator, is not mentioned in even the attending physician's written statement. I recognize that everyone wants privacy, but when you run for office and become one of a state's two US senators, you voluntarily give up a lot of your personal private," Beshear wrote.

He went on, "As governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign."

The state's Republican-controlled legislature has taken action in recent years to curtail Beshear's authority, although in many states the governor has the authority to fill a Senate seat prior to a special election.

A law mandating the governor to select a successor from a list of candidates supplied by the departing senator's party was passed by the Kentucky legislature in 2021. Then, in 2024, they went one step farther and eliminated the governor's power to appoint a successor at all, necessitating a special election to fill the position.

The state constitution, which grants the governor extensive authority to fill vacancies in "all offices for the State at large," may be violated by this law. The US Constitution's 17th Amendment, which grants state legislatures the authority to permit governors to name temporary successors, further complicates the situation.

Joshua Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky, described it as a "contradiction" that might need to be settled by the courts.

"The Kentucky Constitution states that the Governor appoints, the Kentucky legislature requires a special election, and the 17th Amendment [says] the legislature may authorize the Governor to appoint a temporary replacement," he wrote in an email to CNN.

Another possibility is that the seat just stays vacant until the next term begins. The governor "shall" convene a special election, according to the new statute, although there doesn't seem to be a deadline for doing so. This autumn, McConnell did not run for reelection.

A copy of the letter and another letter urging Senate Majority Leader John Thune to look into the situation and compel McConnell's Senate staff "to be honest and transparent with the people of Kentucky" were sent by Beshear to Thune.

According to our study, a Senate vacancy happens when a senator passes away, steps down, or is removed by a Senate vote. Beshear wrote to Thune, "I will insist that you, as the Majority Leader of the Senate, thoroughly investigate Senator McConnell's condition, report to the American people, and start the process if warranted if he refuses to voluntarily demonstrate that he still has the capacity to serve."

In recent years, McConnell, 84, has experienced several falls and health problems that have resulted in hospital stays; nevertheless, the one that started on June 14 was the longest. Thune, along with a number of other Republican leaders, released statements on July 7 attesting to a phone discussion that his spokeswoman described as "a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security."