Rep. John Larson, 76, Reveals Cause of Freezing Incident on House Floor After Receiving ‘Further Evaluation’

Connecticut Rep. John Larson has revealed the cause of his recent “medical incident” on the House floor.

Larson, 76, was expressing his concerns about President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s growing power over the federal government on Monday, Feb. 10, when he froze mid-sentence, as seen in video footage shared by C-SPAN.

When he eventually resumed his speech, he spoke in a slower and lower tone, with awkward pauses.

Following the floor speech on Monday, Larson underwent testing “out of an abundance of caution” and proceeded to attend meetings as usual, his spokesperson told PEOPLE.

The Democratic congressman released a statement about the incident on Tuesday night, offering more details about what led to the moment.

Though his office initially told PEOPLE that they believed Larson had an “adverse reaction” to a new medication, Larson’s follow-up statement revealed that the cause was ultimately pinpointed as a complex partial seizure.

“Fifteen years ago, I had a heart valve replacement due to a variation in the shape of my aortic valve that I was born with,” Larson wrote in a statement posted to X. “Sometimes, people with this condition can later develop symptoms such as the momentary change in speech or movement that was apparent yesterday.”

He continued, “The doctors have prescribed medication that, according to them, will greatly reduce the chance of this happening again. I will be able to resume and active schedule, including my duties as a Member of Congress, beginning tomorrow, when I plan to be present and voting on the House floor.”

Larson thanked the House attending physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, as well as the medical staff and those who reached out with support. He then expressed his enthusiasm for resuming his duties on behalf of Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District.

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Larson, who joined Congress in 1999, is now in his 13th term. He previously served as chair of the House Democratic Caucus under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.