Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has undergone hip replacement after falling during a congressional trip to Europe, her office said on Sunday.
The operation was carried out at Landstuhl Army Base in Germany, the California Democrat’s office said in a statement, adding that Pelosi “is well on the mend.”
The 84-year-old congresswoman “sustained an injury during an official engagement” in Luxembourg on Saturday, her office said. While Pelosi’s staff acknowledged the accident shortly after it happened on Saturday, they did not confirm reports that she had broken her hip until Sunday.
She was taken to Hospital Kirchberg in Luxembourg for evaluation before being transported to Landstuhl Army Base by US military personnel, the statement said.
Pelosi was in Luxembourg with a bipartisan delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest single engagement fought by the United States during the Second World War.
Pelosi was first elected to Congress in 1987, and served as house speaker from 2007 to 2011, and again from 2019 until 2023. She was reelected last month to serve a landmark 20th term in office.
Pelosi is considered one of the most influential Democrats in Washington, overseeing two attempts to impeach then-President Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021, and reportedly spearheading efforts to pressure President Joe Biden to suspend his reelection campaign earlier this summer.
She has since blamed Biden’s refusal to step down earlier for Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump, telling the New York Times last month that her fellow Bay Area Democrat would have been “stronger going forward” if she had won an open primary election.