Sen. Lamar Alexander is calling on congressional leaders to reverse their decision to reject rapid coronavirus testing kits for members of Congress.
In a statement Tuesday, Alexander (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Senate’s health committee, said the rapid expansion of the country’s testing capacity should persuade Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to accept the White House offer for rapid test kits, with the Senate in session this week and the House expected to return to Washington on Monday.
“Bringing 100 or 535 members from across the country to Washington, D.C. — a coronavirus hot spot — and then sending them home each weekend creates a highly efficient virus spreading machine,” Alexander said. “You would have to hire an army of public health workers to track and test all of those people that members of Congress might infect, not to mention their staffs and other Capitol workers.”
Alexander, a close ally of McConnell, said the U.S. will soon have the capacity to test 2 million Americans for the virus per week, adding: “This is enough to test 535 members of Congress each week before they go home to make sure they don’t spread the disease from a virus hot spot into every section of the country.”
Though some lawmakers are expected to remain in Washington each weekend while Congress is in session to minimize travel, several have already said they plan to return to their home states between congressional workweeks. Alexander said providing testing kits for members of Congress would also help ensure the safety of the individuals with whom lawmakers interact, including their families.
“From a public health point of view, this is not mostly about protecting members of Congress,” Alexander said. “It is about protecting the people members might infect.”
Speaking with reporters after a Senate GOP lunch on Tuesday, Alexander said he has conveyed his thoughts to McConnell, who co-authored a rare joint statement with Pelosi over the weekend to decline the White House’s offer for 1,000 rapid Covid-19 testing kits, citing the need to direct those resources to front-line workers and industries. Their initial decision — panned as politically savvy so as to not seem like Congress is getting special treatment — faces a significant headwind with Alexander now opposed.
“Those attitudes are going to change very quickly,” Alexander said.
Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician for the Capitol, initially told aides last week that only senators and staffers who were sick would receive a test, and even those results could take two days to come. At the White House, though, anyone who meets with President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence is tested, and the results come in minutes.
Trump slammed McConnell and Pelosi’s rejection of his administration’s initial offer, writing on Twitter over the weekend: “No reason to turn it down, except politics.”
Senators have been wearing masks as they traverse the Capitol this week, with several lawmakers questioning the wisdom of bringing the chamber back into session while the D.C. region is nearing its peak of coronavirus cases.