Senate reconvenes under historic lockdown rules

Senators stalked the halls of Congress wearing surgical masks, the Senate chaplain donned exam gloves to deliver the opening prayer to the chamber and staffers busily disinfected handrails and seats around the Capitol.

Otherwise, it was business as usual when the U.S. Senate returned Monday after a more than five-week hiatus because of the coronavirus crisis. Without losing a step, the senators returned to partisan squabbling — including over whether they should even be there.

As soon as he entered the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell clashed with Democrats over his decision to reconvene the Senate under historic lockdown rules.

The Kentucky Republican brought together the 100 senators to resume legislative business, beginning with a vote to confirm the nomination of Robert J. Feitel as inspector general for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“This deadly coronavirus does not take days off and so the United States Senate has not either,” he said on the Senate floor. “For more than a month we were among the many Americans who have found creative ways to telework and continued doing our jobs remotely, but now the time has come for us to continue conducting our nation’s business in ways that are only possible with senators here in the Capitol.”

Mr. McConnell applauded the Office of the Attending Physician for Congress for making the Senate’s return to work possible.

“If it’s essential that brave health care workers, grocery store workers, truck drivers and many other Americans can continue to carefully show up for work, then it’s essential that their U.S. senators carefully show up ourselves and support them,” Mr. McConnell said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer blasted Mr. McConnell for putting senators and staff at risk just to process President Trump’s nominees.

“The Republican leader has called the Senate back into session despite the fact that the District of Columbia appears to be reaching the peak phase of this public health emergency, despite the risk we face by gathering here in the Capitol, despite the risks faced by security guards, cafeteria workers, janitors and the staff who operate the floor of the Senate,” the New York Democrat said.

“If we are going to be here, if we are going to make these fine people come into work in these conditions, let the Senate at least conduct the nation’s business and focus like a laser on COVID-19.”

As he traveled to Washington for Monday’s session, Sen. Richard Blumenthal complained about the decision to return to work at the Capitol.

“It’s a beautiful day for a drive — but not for a Senate session that disregards the need for more COVID-19 relief,” the Connecticut Democrat tweeted. “Instead of focusing on pandemic aid, Mitch McConnell is putting lives at risk to confirm non-urgent nominees.”

Mr. McConnell said he agreed floor time should not be wasted on nominations, but he said Democrats were forcing the Republican majority to do so by attempting to obstruct Mr. Trump’s nominees.

“As long as floor time and roll call votes remain the only way for the Senate to fill important posts, that is what we will do,” Mr. McConnell said.

Many of lawmakers’ staff members continued working from home, which caused the Capitol to resemble a ghost town even more than when Congress is not in session.

Staff who came to work on Capitol Hill took extra precautions. Some wore masks or gloves and many availed themselves of the hand sanitizer stations situated throughout the Capitol complex.

Senate Press Gallery staff are required to wear masks whenever they are within 6 feet of others in the office and at all times in the hallways.

Elevators may be used by only one person without a mask per elevator inside the Capitol, and two people are allowed per elevator if both are wearing masks, according to guidance provided to reporters.

On the underground trains between Senate office buildings, workers donned hairnets, gloves and protective face coverings and used disinfectant wipes to scrub seats and railings inside the empty train cars.

Mr. McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a rare joint statement this weekend “respectfully” rejecting President Trump’s offer to provide coronavirus testing for lawmakers and opted instead to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and protocols from the Office of the Attending Physician.

The Senate office buildings’ health centers were open for business, albeit with signs on the doors requesting anyone who entered to first put on a face covering. One health center door listed more than 25 urgent care facilities, including eight COVID-19 testing centers, across D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The listing provided the names, addresses and phone numbers of the locations for congressional staff to contact if they felt ill and needed care.

Some Senate staff had already begun preparing for committee hearings later in the week. Dozens of chairs removed from hearing rooms lined the hallways of the Hart Senate Office Building on Monday afternoon, which provides for the committees meeting inside to safely gather and respect social distancing requirements.

Unused Senate rooms displayed door tags labeled “CLEANING NOT REQUIRED” akin to the do-not-disturb signs commonly seen at hotels.

“Instructions for room occupant: Remove this tag from your door when you arrive,” the door tag read. “Place on the inside doorknob (so it is not seen from the hallway). Do NOT place this tag on the outside of your door when you leave for the day.”

Many of the rooms regularly teeming with Senate staffers were nearly empty. Much of the Senate office buildings’ restaurants appeared largely closed, with vending machines still available near some cafeterias. The Senate’s refectory appeared closed as well.

And yet, other staples beside partisan bickering appeared unaffected by the public health scare.

Outside the Capitol, where protesters tend to gather on the sidewalk, a single protester stood vigil Monday. Stephen Parlato said he traveled from Boulder, Colorado, to hoist a banner that read: “Slowdancing with death? Only Widespread Testing Will Tell!”

“I feel even before this pandemic, I was very concerned about the upcoming election and felt it was going to be the most crucial election in my lifetime, in our country’s lifetime, and this has only made it more urgent,” Mr. Parlato said. “This goes beyond being able to shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and get away with it, this becomes a license to murder through political pressure thousands upon thousands of innocent people who are being misled.”

Mr. Parlato said he found a hotel room near Capitol Hill and planned to stay for two weeks to continue protesting various issues that matter to him. He said he intended to demonstrate at the Capitol for eight hours per day six days per week.

The Senate will return to work Tuesday, focusing on nominations and potential coronavirus-related relief legislation.