An attending physician with the U.S. Congress cleared Utah Sen. Mike Lee to end his coronavirus isolation.
More than 10 days after Lee began experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, Dr. Brian Monahan cleared the Utah Republican from continuing his quarantine. On Monday, Lee attended a Senate Judiciary hearing on the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, President Trump’s third high-court nominee.
“Based upon current CDC guidelines, you have met criteria to end COVID-19 isolation for those with mild to moderate disease. Specifically, it has been greater than 10 days since symptom onset, you have had no fever in absence of fever reducing medication for at least 24 hours, and your other symptoms have improved,” the letter reads. “The CDC does not recommend repeat SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing if these criteria are met.”
Like all other senators in the hearing, Lee did not wear a mask while making remarks. He argued that most cases handled by the Supreme Court do not result in ideological splits, invoking the “dormant” commerce clause.
“The 5-4 configuration is actually relatively rare. When it does arise, it’s not even always involving a hot-button political issue. Most of the Supreme Court’s docket does not even consist of the hot-button issues. A whole lot consists of stuff that I find really, really fascinating, like the dormant Commerce Clause,” Lee said. “I mean, what American doesn’t sit up late at night and stew over whether it’s okay for a state or a political subdivision, thereof, to treat an article of commerce differently based on its origin or destination, out of state or outside the United States. This, of course, is the kind of case that comes before the Supreme Court and might, from time to time, be decided on a 5-4 basis, but not necessarily along the lines that one would predict.”
Afterward, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, quipped that Lee’s remarks on the constitutional issue indicated he recovered from the illness.
“Well, definitely some good news, Sen. Lee’s enthusiasm for the dormant commerce clause convinces me you’ve made a full recovery,” he said.
