2 senators at hearings with Cornyn, Cruz test positive
WASHINGTON — Both Texas senators attended hearings this week that U.S. Sens. Mike Lee and Thom Tillis — who both tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday — also attended.
Those included a highprofile hearing onWednesday in which GOP senators — including U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz — grilled James Comey, the former FBI director. The committee also met on Thursday to discuss judicial nominees.
It’s unclear from recordings of the hearings to what extent Cornyn or Cruz were in the room at the same time as Lee and Tillis, as senators often come and go from hearings. In the hearings, Lee, who announced Friday he tested positive for the virus,
spoke without a mask, as did Cornyn, Cruz and several other senators. Lee sat near Cruz in the hearing.
Aspokesmanfor Cornyn said: “Sen. Cornyn followed CDC guidelines during the hearing this week.” Cruz’s office did not respond to a request for comment. It’s unclear whether either planned to get tested or quarantine.
In both meetings, senators sat at a distance around a series of tables decked with bottles of hand sanitizer.
Cruz is friends with Lee, who endorsed the Texas Republican when he ran for president in 2016. Cruz wrote in a book on the Supreme Court published this month that he had pushed President Donald
Trump to add Lee to a list of potential Supreme Court nominees in 2016.
Senate Democrats are pushing to delay Judiciary Committee hearings on Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, which are scheduled to begin later this month.
“The unfortunate news about the infection of our colleague Senator Mike Lee makes even more clear that health and safety must guide the schedule for all Senate activities, including hearings,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in a joint statement.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham has vowed to move forward as planned.