The Senate won’t act on legislation to address the coronavirus outbreak until after a scheduled recess next week, according to a Republican senator.
“The Senate will act when we come back, and we have a clearer idea of what extra steps we need to take,” Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander told reporters.
Both chambers of Congress are expected to go on recess after Thursday, as they are scheduled to be off next week.
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McConnell ally says Senate won’t take up House #coronavirus bill until after recess. “The Senate will act when we come back and we have a clearer idea of what extra steps we need to take,” Sen. Lamar Alexander told reporters.
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) March 12, 2020
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi planned to hold a vote on the coronavirus legislation before the end of the week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will ultimately decide what legislation is considered in the upper chamber, and on the Senate floor, he said on Thursday that “Congress will continue to do our work.”
At least one Republican senator, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, called on the Senate to cancel the recess.
“Nursing home operators in Nebraska are telling me they’re worried because they have patients who might have coronavirus, but they don’t have enough testing kits to find out. Instead of going into recess next week, the Senate ought to keep working on the people’s business — both addressing the obvious deficiencies in our diagnostic testing pipeline, and debating the President’s call last night for economic legislation. The Senate has work to do, let’s get to it,” he said in a statement Thursday.
The U.S. Capitol and its associated office buildings are being closed to the general public until April 1, and several senators have implemented work-from-home policies for their staff members.
Senators cannot cast votes from home, though there is legislation in the works to change that policy.
UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday afternoon that the upper chamber canceled next week’s recess to act on coronavirus legislation.
