SENATE SET to reopen in face of risks.
Republicans resisting more coronavirus relief funding
WASHINGTON — The Senate will reopen Monday as the coronavirus crisis rages and the House stays shuttered.
But with the Washington, D.C., region still under stayat-home orders as a virus hot spot, senators face exposing themselves to the virus and putting at risk all of the cooks, cleaners, police officers and others who serve them lunch and keep the lights on at the Capitol complex.
Until a last-minute intervention Saturday by President Donald Trump, the Senate had no access to an instant virus test system like that used to screen visitors to the White House.
For Senate Republicans it’s an attempt to set the terms of debate as Democrats push for another pricey coronavirus relief bill. Frustrated after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boosted Democratic priorities in earlier aid packages, they are resisting more.
Republicans are counting on the country’s reopening and an economic rebound as their best hope to limit a new round of big spending on virus aid.
As the Senate gavels in and the much larger, 430-member House stays away on the Capitol physician’s advice, the Congress provides a snapshot of a divided America struggling to confront the covid-19 crisis. In the states, some are reopening, others are staying closed and questions abound.
Senators face few new rules for operating in the pandemic beyond the recommendations that they wear masks, keep their distance and leave most staff at home. Hand sanitizer is back in stock. But public access will be limited, including at public hearings. The Capitol itself remains closed to visitors and tours.
Democrats complain they are returning to a noticeably light agenda, packed with confirmation hearings for Trump’s judicial and executive branch nominees, but with little emphasis on the pandemic and Great Depression-level economic collapse.
“Democrats are going to fight like h***,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on a conference call with Latino leaders. “We’re going to make sure people have enough money to live and get back on their feet.”
In making his decision to return, McConnell said the Senate cannot “sit on the sidelines.” He compared the senators to the essential work force of grocery clerks, truck drivers and others keeping Americans fed during the crisis.
But Capitol Hill erupted after the attending physician, facing questions from top GOP officials earlier last week, said the health office did not have the means to perform instant virus tests on returning lawmakers.
On Saturday, Trump stepped in.
“There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday,” Trump tweeted, flagging the note to his chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Ninety minutes later, Health Secretary Alex Azar tweeted that the administration would be sending three machines and 1,000 virus tests to Capitol Hill.
With more than 66,000 U.S. deaths due to the virus and 30 million Americans unemployed, Democratic senators say the focus of the Senate needs to be singular — to ease this crisis and prevent a second wave of infections.
Instead, the agenda is focused on the president’s nominees. Among them is Justin Walker, a conservative, McConnell-backed pick to be a federal judge on the U.S. Courts of Appeal in the District of Columbia Circuit, which is seen as a steppingstone to the Supreme Court.
“It has nothing to do with covid,” Schumer said.
A nomination hearing also is scheduled for John Ratcliffe, the Texas Republican congressman who is Trump’s choice to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Several committees will meet to debate issues related to the virus outbreak, including the Oversight Committee. The Health Committee will hold a session on potential cures and the Commerce Committee a hearing on the airline industry.
Yet as much as the world has changed during the global pandemic, the Senate remains a place of traditions.
Republican senators still plan to sit down for their regular luncheons, though the physician’s social distancing guidance limits them to three to a table. It was after one of their lunches in March that several senators went into self-quarantine because of their exposure to fellow GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who tested positive.
Democrats, who will meet for lunch over a conference call, are assessing whether to appear in person for the committee hearings or dial in remotely.
The physician’s office sent guidelines late Friday encouraging Senate offices to minimize staff presence and reschedule any visitors who are visibly ill.
Politically, operating the Senate even in a diminished capacity aligns with Trump’s effort to return to a sense of normalcy.
It also draws a stark contrast with Pelosi’s House, which is holding only scattered committee hearings, its return date uncertain. Trump has mocked House Democrats as enjoying a “vacation.”
Drawing GOP senators back to Washington, McConnell can more directly involve them in the new round of deliberations.
“I look forward to seeing my colleagues on Monday,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to stand together for the American people — even as we stand six feet apart.”