GOP Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana said he expects House Majority Whip Steve Scalise to return to work in September, roughly two months after sustaining serious injuries during a shooting at the Republican’s congressional baseball practice in June.
“He’s coming back next month. So we’ll see how that goes. He may be fighting off doctors at the hospital to come,” Graves told WWL Radio Monday. “Steve is a fighter. His attitude and spirits have remained very high.”
A GOP aide told The Daily Caller News Foundation the Louisiana congressman is currently focused on his inpatient rehabilitation, adding his office will provide updates on his condition and plans to return when appropriate.
Scalise underwent multiple surgeries and received multiple blood transfusions, with his doctor saying he “was as critical as you can be when he came in” after being shot in the hip.
He is one of the five victims in the attack, where 66-year-old James Hodgkinson took aim at roughly two dozen GOP lawmakers at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va. Capitol Police Officers Crystal Griner and David Bailey, Tyson’s Food lobbyist Matt Mika and congressional staffer Zack Barth were also wounded in the attack.
Graves said it’s miraculous more people weren’t injured during the shooting, noting the amount of ammunition Hodgkinson managed to fire before Scalise’s security detail were able to control the situation.
“It is a miracle that he sent off, according to Trent Kelly, perhaps 80 rounds, the gunman, 80 rounds from a high caliber rifle, and the only person that died was him. That is amazing,” he said.
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