WASHINGTON — For a moment this spring, Congress rose to meet the challenge of a national emergency and passed four economic rescue bills in less than two months. Somehow, it seemed, the coronavirus had revived the art of bipartisan deal-making.
Those halcyon days are already over.
After a prolonged recess, the Republican-led Senate returns to session Monday, but the Democratic-led House won’t meet for another week. At this point, the two chambers can’t even agree when it’s safe to go back to work.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has summoned senators to the Capitol over loud protests from Democrats who complain that he’s violating Trump administration health guidelines.
They’re right. Washington and its suburbs remain under medical lockdown. Confirmed infections and deaths from COVID-19 are still rising, which means it’s not yet prudent to summon many of Congress’ roughly 20,000 employees — never mind its members — back to the Capitol.
McConnell says the Senate should meet because health workers are risking their lives. But his agenda this week won’t focus on the pandemic; it’s about confirming federal judges, a longtime GOP priority.
“My motto for the year is: ‘Leave no vacancy behind,’” he bragged in a radio interview last week. Bringing 100 Senators from around the country, including many coronavirus hotspots, risks all of us. It also sends the wrong message to the American people.
Democrats were furious, beginning with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the Senate’s oldest member at 86.
“Bringing 100 Senators from around the country, including many coronavirus hotspots,” back to the Capitol “risks all of us,” she wrote in a blistering letter to McConnell. “It also sends the wrong message to the American people.”
But McConnell, who is 78, was unmoved, so Feinstein is flying back to Washington from San Francisco by private jet.
It’s not clear what precautions will be taken when the Senate convenes.
The Capitol physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, a Navy oncologist, has encouraged members to wear masks, but he cannot order them to. Nearly two months after President Donald Trump claimed that “anybody that wants a test can get a test,” Monahan says he doesn’t have equipment to test all 100 senators in less than two days.
Unlike the White House guards, the Capitol Police do not subject visitors to temperature checks.
The same Capitol physician advised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that it would be a bad idea to reconvene her 430 members and their staffs, and she extended their recess until May 11.
Trump quickly weaponized Pelosi’s decision. “I think they should be back here,” he said of the Democrats. “They’re enjoying their vacation.”
