U.S. Senate risks a return Monday but House stays away

he Senate will reopen on Monday as the coronavirus crisis rages and the home stays shuttered, a risky strategy that leaves Congress as divided as the nation.

It's a politically and physically fraught move by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, convening 100 senators at the U.S. Capitol during a pandemic. The Senate's return gives President Donald Trump the imagery he wants of America getting back to work, despite the health threats.

But with the Washington, D.C., region still under stay-at-home orders as a virus spot, senators face exposing themselves to the virus and putting at risk each of the cooks, cleaners, cops and other people who serve them lunch and keep carefully the lights on at the Capitol complex.

Until a last-minute intervention on Saturday by Trump, the Senate had no usage of an instantaneous virus test system like this used to screen people to the White House.

For Senate Republicans it's an effort to set the conditions of debate as Democrats push for another pricey coronavirus relief bill. Frustrated after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boosted Democratic priorities in earlier aid packages, an unprecedented $3 trillion in emergency spending, they are resisting more. Republicans are relying on the country's reopening and an monetary rebound as their finest hope to limit a fresh round of big shelling out for virus aid.

As the Senate gavels in and the 430-member House stays away on the Capitol physician's advice, the Congress offers a snapshot of a divided America struggling to confront the COVID-19 crisis. In the us, some are reopening, others are staying closed and questions abound.

Senators face few new rules for operating in the pandemic beyond the tips that they wear masks - blue face coverings will be available for free - keep their distance and leave most staff at home. Hand sanitizer is back in stock. But public access will be limited, including at public hearings. The Capitol itself remains closed to visitors and tours.

Democrats complain they are time for a noticeably light agenda, filled with confirmation hearings for Trump's judicial and executive branch nominees, but with little focus on the pandemic and Great Depression-level economical collapse.

“Democrats are going to fight like hell,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on a conference call with Latino leaders. “We're going to make certain people can pay for to live and reunite on the feet."

To make his snap decision to return, McConnell said the Senate cannot “take a seat on the sidelines.” He compared the senators to the essential work force of grocery clerks, truck drivers and others keeping Americans fed through the crisis.

But Capitol Hill erupted following the attending physician, facing questions from top GOP officials earlier in the week, said medical office did not have the methods to perform instant virus tests on returning lawmakers.

On Saturday, Trump stepped in.

“There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators time for Capital Hill on Monday,” Trump tweeted, flagging the note to his chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Ninety minutes later, Health Secretary Alex Azar tweeted that the administration will be sending three machines and 1,000 virus tests to Capitol Hill.

The haphazard approach - to testing, health guidelines and the broader reopening - is what Democrats say is inadequate in the Republican response to the crisis.

“If we’re likely to go back, let’s do something positive about COVID,” Schumer said.

With an increase of than 65,000 U.S. deaths as a result of virus and 30 million Americans suddenly unemployed, Democratic senators say the focus has to be singular - to help ease this crisis and stop another wave of infections.

Instead, the agenda is targeted on the president’s nominees. Included in this is Justin Walker, a conservative, McConnell-backed pick to become a federal judge on the U.S. Courts of Appeal in the District of Columbia Circuit, which is seen as a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.

“It has nothing in connection with COVID,” Schumer said.

A nomination hearing also is scheduled for John Ratcliffe, the Texas Republican congressman who's Trump's choice to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Several committees will meet to debate issues linked to the virus outbreak, including the Oversight Committee. The Health Committee will hold a session on potential cures and the Commerce Committee a hearing on the airline industry.

Yet as much as the world has changed through the global pandemic, the Senate remains a location of traditions.

Republican senators still plan to sit down because of their regular luncheons, although physician's social distancing guidance limits them to three to a table. It had been after one of their lunches in March that several senators went into self-quarantine as a result of their contact with fellow GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who tested positive.

Democrats, who'll meet for lunch over conference call, are assessing whether to surface in person for the committee hearings or dial in remotely.

The physician's office sent guidelines late Friday encouraging Senate offices to minimize staff presence and reschedule any visitors who are visibly ill with “shaking chills” or “vomiting.”

Politically, operating the Senate even in a diminished capacity aligns with Trump’s effort to come back to a feeling of normalcy.

In addition, it draws a stark contrast with Pelosi’s House, which is merely holding scattered committee hearings, its return date uncertain. Trump has mocked House Democrats as enjoying a "vacation.”

Republicans worry that support for Trump is drifting as he responds to the coronavirus, a drag on the GOP that threatens McConnell’s majority. Confronting his own reelection in fall, McConnell is wanting to show the Senate is working.

Drawing GOP senators back to Washington, McConnell can more directly involve them in the brand new round of deliberations.

“I look forward to seeing my colleagues on Monday," he said in a statement. "We will continue steadily to stand together for the American persons - even as we stand six feet apart.”