U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) was hospitalized as a dangerous heat wave gripped Washington D.C., according to multiple reports on Wednesday, June 25.
The 74-year-old senator’s spokesperson told CBS News that he was treated for dehydration.
“Leader Schumer was at the Senate gym this morning when he began feeling lightheaded,” the spokesperson said. “Out of an abundance of caution, he went to the hospital for treatment and is now back at work in the Capitol.”
Schumer also used the moment to urge everyone to stay hydrated and avoid the heat.
ABC News shared that Chuck Schumer was only “briefly” hospitalized.
His health scare happened during a severe heat wave slamming the East Coast. With temperatures hitting around 100 degrees, Washington D.C. has been one of the hardest-hit spots.
The heat has been so intense that the Washington Monument had to shut down, according to WUSA9. The station also warned that spending time outdoors—especially under direct sunlight—could lead to serious heat-related illnesses.
Schumer has been in the U.S. Senate since 1998 and became New York’s senior senator in 2000 after Daniel Patrick Moynihan retired. Before his time in the Senate, he served in the New York State Assembly and later in the U.S. House of Representatives. He’s a Brooklyn native, where his father ran a small extermination business.
