U.S. Capitol opening to public in limbo

WASHINGTON — When the Senate and House return Monday and Tuesday for legislative business, respectively, the general public will be forbidden from the galleries above to watch America’s democracy in motion.

Almost 21 months into the coronavirus pandemic, the Capitol remains sealed off from the general visitors. Even as public venues around Washington and across the nation have moved into a new normal with new safety measures, no one is sure when the public will be back inside the Capitol.

No one knows when the people’s House will be returned to the people.

“I don’t know the answer to that. We are paying close attention,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., chairperson of the House Administration Committee, which oversees the chamber’s operations. She said congressional leaders defer to advice from Brian P. Monahan, the medical expert who runs the Office of Attending Physician.

Those discussions have not been very active, Lofgren said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that the yoyo effect of the virus, with infection rates plunging in the late spring and then soaring in the late summer, has made it difficult to plan a reopening. The new omicron variant highlights that concern.

But Hoyer, the fourth-longest serving member of the House, believes it is symbolically important to bring the public back to reject the forces that spawned the only recent time in which the general public visited the Capitol — on Jan. 6, when thousands broke through outer barriers on the surrounding lawn and hundreds broke into the building in an effort to block certification of the 2020 election.

That day is now also interlocked with the virus in terms of determining when to bring the general public back in some capacity to the Capitol.

The decision rests with the House and Senate sergeants at arms, who work in consultation with Monahan for medical advice, according to Democratic aides familiar with the discussions.

But those officials are also tasked with post-Jan. 6 security considerations as they contemplate the return of visitors, according to the sources.

It’s unclear what threats visitors might pose, given that tourists have to go through a massive security screening to enter the Capitol Visitors Center under normal circumstances. And hundreds of Capitol Police officers serve inside and around the perimeter of the campus, ready to respond to any threats.

Some lawmakers suggest that quite a few of their colleagues remain deeply traumatized.

“Don’t underestimate the trauma,” said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va.

Congressional officials do not mention these lingering Jan. 6 concerns when explaining the continued shutdown to the public. Hoyer and Sen. Roy Blunt, Mo., the top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, when asked whether that was part of the holdup, both said no.

“I think it’s about the virus,” Hoyer said.

If the issue is just health concerns, the Capitol is taking stricter measures than its counterpart in London.

The Capitol remains shuttered except for lawmakers, staff, its credentialed press corps and those deemed to be official visitors.

Monahan has an official policy of never answering any media questions.

The Jan. 6 attack prompted a heavy security presence, including a much-criticized fence that created a massive perimeter for many weeks. That loosened up in April, and more official visitors have since been allowed to enter the buildings.

Any day Congress is in session, a few lawmakers can be seen bringing a small collection of family or friends around the Capitol, giving exclusive tours during slow points in the day.

Hoyer remains optimistic that the public, in some limited fashion, can return soon, something he hoped for back in June only to see a late summer covid surge. Others think that the Jan. 6 trauma is almost as important. Until that fades, it will be difficult to really reopen the Capitol.