House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said lawmakers may be required to take mandatory coronavirus tests.
The Maryland Democrat said leaders are considering the requirement now that another lawmaker has tested positive for the coronavirus and after Democrats accused many Republicans of acting irresponsibly by not fully embracing the use of masks.
“We are discussing that,” the Maryland Democrat told reporters during a press call on Wednesday. “We have discussed it in the past, and this is, I think, a moment where we ought to discuss it again.”
Hoyer said he will be consulting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy “as to what we think is the policy that will be effected.”
Hoyer accused some in the GOP of “totally irresponsible behavior” for not fully embracing the use of masks and face coverings in the Capitol. Many of those who only wear masks part-time include members of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction most at odds politically with the Democratic caucus.
Hoyer also chastised the GOP for criticizing the new policy passed by House Democrats that allows proxy voting and remote hearings.
Gohmert, who is asymptomatic, began wearing a mask a few weeks ago, his chief of staff, Connie Hair, told the Washington Examiner.
Several other GOP lawmakers do not wear masks all the time on the House floor or in hallways.
Pelosi, meanwhile, has refused an offer of testing supplies from the White House. She made the decision jointly with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.
Gohmert’s initial positive reading was discovered with a rapid test at the White House ahead of a trip to Texas that he planned to take with President Trump aboard Air Force One. Gohmert then took another test at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which also came back positive. Gohmert is now driving back to Texas, where he plans to continue working in quarantine.
