The Senate will end a weekslong recess and return to legislative session on May 4, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday.
The Kentucky Republican said in a statement that lawmakers would “modify routines in ways that are smart and safe,” due to the threat of the coronavirus, “but we will honor our constitutional duty to the American people and conduct critical business in person.”
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The House, controlled by Democrats, is also slated to return on May 4. The decision to return will be discussed with lawmakers in a caucus conference call this afternoon, a top Democratic aide told the Washington Examiner.
Congress has been in a lengthy recess due to the threat of the coronavirus. The House shuttered mid-March, and the Senate left town at the end of last month.
The House has returned briefly to pass two major spending bills, each time employing social distancing plans.
In the meantime, lawmakers in both parties have pushed leaders in the two chambers to consider changing longstanding rules to allow remote or proxy voting on legislation. Most House lawmakers voted Thursday on a $484 billion aid package. The vote was scheduled in shifts to avoid overcrowding the chamber and hallways.
House Democrats abandoned plans to push through a temporary change to allow proxy voting after Republicans objected. The two parties are now engaging in bipartisan talks on plans to allow remote work in the event of emergencies such as the coronavirus outbreak.
In his statement on Monday, McConnell said lawmakers needed to come back to work in the Capitol.
“If it is essential for doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, truck drivers, grocery-store workers, and many other brave Americans to keep carefully manning their own duty stations, then it is essential for Senators to carefully man ours and support them,” McConnell said.
