Congress eyes avoiding Washington for at least a month

After passing the largest economic relief bill in history, Congress is now considering staying away from Washington for a month or more as the coronavirus makes even the routine act of legislating a dangerous risk for new transmissions.

Officially, Congress is scheduled to come back on April 20 as lawmakers try to avoid traveling and congregating amid the raging crisis and as they plot a potential fourth phase of economic relief.

Unofficially, it could take even longer for Congress to physically come back into session. And longer still for things to return to anywhere near normal on Capitol Hill, where members of both chambers, staffers and U.S. Capitol Police officers have now tested positive for the deadly respiratory virus.

President Donald Trump on Sunday embraced extending his administration’s social distancing guidance until April 30, an edict that now clashes with the Senate and House schedules to return on April 20. Those schedules are tentative, according to aides in both parties, and are almost certain to be pushed back unless there’s must-pass legislation that forces Congress’ hand.

"That's sort of an aspirational goal, but I think it's obviously subject to radical change based on circumstances," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). "April 20 is what, three weeks away? That seems a little early based on the pace of this crisis."

“This could go on for a little while longer until things settle down. But right now, it's pretty hard to predict,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is close to the Senate majority leader.

More than 150,000 people in the U.S. have tested positive for coronavirus, and more than 2,500 have died. In a sign of the widening crisis surrounding the Capitol, the greater Washington area this week began stricter measures to contain the outbreak, with D.C., Maryland and Virginia issuing stay-at-home orders.

And the chummy Capitol is a unique petri dish for the spread of the virus. Lawmakers share tight quarters on elevators, in party meetings and at committee hearings. Reporters cram together into epic scrums during times of crisis. Tourists jam the hallways, particularly during the peak spring tourist season.

On Monday morning, the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms extended the Capitol’s restricted access posture through May 1, echoing the new national guidelines for social distancing that Trump announced on Sunday after repeatedly suggesting the United States would be open for business by Easter, April 12. All tours will be postponed until at least May and the Capitol and related office buildings are open only for lawmakers, staff, reporters and official business visitors.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said committees will struggle to hold hearings under the current conditions and that noncontroversial business like lower-level nominations can be confirmed without roll-call votes. But he said the Senate may “need to be together in some format by the end of April because I think we might need to enact more legislation.”

“We should just lead by example and show the American people we can recognize that everybody needs to do everything they can to minimize the spread of this disease, including United States senators, and still do their work,” Cardin said in an interview on Monday.

“What we have to do is what every American is doing right now. And that's taking it one day at a time,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who presided over an empty Senate chamber during Monday’s pro forma session.

There’s already been bicameral infections, which have raised fears about spreading the virus through the simple act of gathering on the House and Senate floors to vote on legislation and nominations.

In the House, Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) was the latest member to be diagnosed with coronavirus on Monday, joining Reps. Ben McAdams (D-Utah), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.). Velazquez was present for the House vote Friday and was in close contact with House leaders during a bill signing ceremony afterward.

Pelosi later told her leadership team that the attending physician deemed her interaction with Velazquez “low risk” and no further action was needed, per sources familiar with the call on Monday.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) tested negative after experiencing an illness, but he left the Hill immediately after voting late Wednesday night amid his symptoms, underscoring the sensitivities of the situation. Multiple lawmakers also took to self-quarantining after risking exposure to the virus.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who self-quarantined earlier this month after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) tested positive, said he assumed the Senate would try and come back by April 20.

"I understand concerns about doing it and yet I think there are also concerns about what would happen if we didn't. … We can still hold committee hearings and find ways to spread people out," Lee said on Monday. "The way the leader has been setting up votes, holding them open for a longer period of time really can allow” the Senate to do its work.

In a sign of how much has changed in just a few weeks, the House took extraordinary precautions during a vote on the coronavirus relief package on Friday. Lawmakers were spaced out throughout the chamber and even in the public galleries above the House floor in order to maintain proper social distancing while voting.

House members were required to use hand sanitizer coming on and off the floor and were told not to jam into elevators together as they usually do. The Speaker’s Lobby was shuttered to reporters.

Many members were furious they even had to scramble back to the Capitol on short notice to vote in person — putting themselves, their colleagues and Capitol staff in danger — after GOP Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) vowed to object to a simple voice vote.

“Massie turned a quorum call into Russian roulette," complained Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). "That solidified our commitment to being there to get the job done, but also our desire to see that we are there for purposes of necessity."

Those fears continued into this week after reports of at least two Capitol police officers testing positive for coronavirus.

Several aides said the chances of Congress coming back in April were increasingly slim after the new national guidance was issued on Sunday. But the situation is not static and a financial crisis or urgent health care needs could force Congress back into session.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is beginning work on a new package of fiscal legislation to combat the virus’ drag on the economy and could in theory call the House back to vote on it. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has called for a delay in crafting a "Phase 4" bill, but Pelosi has directed her chairmen to begin work on a new legislative package.

Pelosi began on Thursday afternoon to preview the Phase 4 package to reporters and her members. The California Democrat said last week she plans to work in Washington for most if not all of the recess and was spotted at a local Whole Foods over the weekend.

House leaders sent out a notice Monday saying the chamber would be out until at least April 20 unless they need to vote on another relief package before then. But they also indicated the April 20 return date could be punted “later depending on the circumstances.”

“We have to make sure that we look out for the health and the well-being of those at the Capitol, our staff members and of course the members of Congress,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday. “But at the same time, we have a job to do on the behalf of the American people in terms of responding to this extraordinary health crisis.”

Meanwhile, the prospects of remote voting remain dim, despite some support for a bill from Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Congressional leaders have been cool to the idea, and House leaders passed the $2 trillion rescue bill last week without employing that option.

“The coronavirus pandemic has showcased why we need to have remote voting as a tool," Portman said Monday. "I hope my bipartisan resolution to allow remote voting will be a part of the discussion when the Senate reconvenes.”

Marianne LeVine and Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.