Member-only story
‘There Are Some Congressional Staffers Who Have Already Tested Positive’
A staffer on Capitol Hill describes a state of confusion and uncertainty where we most need stability
Like the rest of the country, Capitol Hill is in a state of chaos this week as COVID-19 continues to spread at a breakneck rate. In addition to worrying about their own personal safety and hygiene concerns around the coronavirus, lawmakers in Congress must try to ensure the safety of their constituents. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are currently collaborating on an aid package for Americans, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday that the Senate would not go on its previously scheduled recess in order to instead work on coronavirus legislation. GEN spoke with an anonymous congressional staffer about our politicians’ response to the pandemic and whether the Capitol is ready for its employees to work from home.
We’re on pins and needles waiting to see how bad things will actually get. The wider debate right now is to what extent you want to shut down schools and businesses and everything else to control the spread, but obviously economic and social costs come with that. That debate is being played out in microcosm here on the Hill. Every office, plus the Capitol itself, is trying to decide to what extent do we restrict our normal activities in order to spread out the rate at which people are getting infected?
A lot of people here are worried about getting sick. A lot of members are older; a lot of staff are younger. I think the average age of the congressional staffer is under 30 years old. Based on what we know about the disease, the average staffer is not at a particularly high risk themselves, but they’re worried about their parents and grandparents.
People have made the analogy that working in Congress is a lot like being in a college dorm. That also goes with the close personal contact of everyone who works here. There are some congressional staffers — at least on the Senate side — who have already tested positive. I talked to somebody today whose office just bought a bunch of laptops for staff who did not yet have an office-issued laptop, because they are getting ready to go full-time remote if…
