Senators agreed to adjourn the Senate for two weeks after three lawmakers contracted the coronavirus, but the plan will not stop the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, which is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would next convene for business on Oct. 19, enough time for Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, to recover from the coronavirus.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the Senate confirmation hearings would continue, with lawmakers allowed to participate either in person or virtually, which has been the practice on the Judiciary Committee since the pandemic began.
Lee and Tillis are members of the panel.
Democrats are demanding the Republicans postpone the Barrett hearing and confirmation process until at least after the November election, when a Democratic victory in the Senate and White House could derail her nomination.
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, called on McConnell to adjourn the Senate until Nov. 4, but McConnell refused.
Democrats are now making the case that the trio of senators infected with the coronavirus should shut down both the floor and the confirmation hearing and that every lawmaker on the panel should attend in person.
But McConnell said Democrats have been more than satisfied with hybrid hearings held by the Judiciary Committee.
“Our Democratic colleagues have largely welcomed this approach, and they have frequently taken advantage of it,” McConnell said.
Earlier Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, called for strict coronavirus testing rules if the Senate proceeds with the hearings.
“Every Senator and relevant staff must have negative tests on two consecutive days and have completed the appropriate quarantining period, and there should be mandatory testing every day of the hearing,” Schumer demanded in a statement Monday. “Testing must be administered by an independent entity, such as the Attending Physician of the United States Congress. Failure to implement a thorough testing approach would be intentionally reckless.”
