WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he expects lawmakers back in Washington on Monday despite the uncertainty surrounding their exposure to COVID-19 in the wake of the positive diagnoses of President Donald Trump and senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
“We’ve been operating in the same environment now since the first of May and been able to do Senate business. There’s no reason why we can’t continue to do that,” Mr. McConnell told a reporter Friday at an event in Kentucky.
That promise to continue operating as normal comes even though Mr. Trump, Mr. Lee and others who attended last weekend’s White House event announcing the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett disclosed positive coronavirus tests Friday. That has led to calls for the Senate to avoid meeting and follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for a period of self-isolation.
The Senate is scheduled to be in session Monday afternoon to begin consideration of U.S. District Court nominations in Ohio, Florida and Kansas teed up by Mr. McConnell earlier this week.
The Kentucky Republican has a tight timeline if he wants to get Judge Barrett confirmed before Election Day, and he told reporters he hopes to take up her nomination after it is reported out of the Judiciary Committee on or around Oct. 22. He did not commit to a final vote before the election.
Operating the Senate in the middle of the pandemic, Mr. McConnell said, “has not kept us from operating as we would normally, and there’s no reason to expect that to be the case in the foreseeable future.”
Mr. Lee, as a Senate Judiciary member, would cast a vote on whether to recommend Judge Barrett’s nomination out of committee, and with no Democratic support expected, his vote could be important.
Mr. Lee announced Friday he had sought medical advice Thursday after experiencing symptoms consistent with “longtime allergies.” He tested positive for coronavirus that afternoon and said he would self-isolate.
First Published: October 3, 2020, 4:35 a.m.
