A handful of hardliners were already watching for cracks in the 81-year-old McConnell’s command over Senate Republicans after he faced his first-ever leadership challenge following last year’s elections — Rick Scott (R-Fla.) ran against him and lost. McConnell’s apparent health problems could embolden insurgents to go after the minority leader again.

“There has been an effort on the part of some to replace him already,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a vocal McConnell backer. “And I think he wisely recognized that any opportunity would present a window for them to try it again.”

McConnell confronted the moment in the way he knows best: by rallying his supporters to his side. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), one of McConnell’s top deputies, recalled the leader ringing him just minutes after the August freeze to say, dryly as ever, “I just had another one of those.”