U.S. Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana was hospitalized after being struck in a car crash and is expected to make a full recovery, the Indiana Republican Party’s office said Tuesday.
“He greatly appreciates everyone’s prayers during this time,” Baird’s congressional office said in a statement.
The statement did not provide further details about the crash. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the congressman’s wife was also hospitalized.
“They’re going to be fine, but they were in a very bad accident and we pray they’re out of that hospital soon,” Trump told House Republican members at a retreat at the Kennedy Center. “He’s going to be OK. She’s going to be OK.”
Baird represents Indiana’s 4th Congressional District in west-central Indiana and was first elected to Congress in 2019. He is 80 years old.
News of the crash comes as Republicans in Washington, D.C., mourn the death of Doug LaMalfa, a seven-term U.S. Rep. from California. His death and the resignation of Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene narrowed the party’s control of the House to 218 seats, compared with 213 for Democrats.
In 2022, Indiana U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, a Republican, was killed in a head-on car crash in her northern Indiana district. Two staff members traveling with her also died, as did a woman driving another vehicle.
