Some Democrats are already warning of a government shutdown as budget battle with GOP takes shape
House Speaker Kevin McCarthyโs bid to appease hardliners in his caucus and get the House moving again has some Democratic worried about the road ahead when it comes time to passing legislation to keep the government running.
Texas congressman Kevin Brady says heโs tested positive for COVID-19
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, spoke on a panel for the Lincoln Reagan Dinner, at the Bayou City Events Center in Houston in 2017. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, has tested positive for the coronavirus, he said on Twitter on Tuesday evening. Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, a high-ranking member of Texasโ congressional delegation, tested positive for the coronavirus. The first statewide elected official to publicly confirm a positive coronavirus test was Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann in May. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also tested positive in early December.
Texas on brink of record 13K in hospitals as virus surges
Dr. Alan Glombicki examines a patient using an endoscope in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) at the United Memorial Medical Center on December 29, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)FORT WORTH, Texas โ Texas was on the brink Monday of surpassing a record 13,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as the number of new cases after the Christmas holiday continued surging, including Rep. Kay Granger, who said she tested positive upon returning to Washington for the new Congress. She had been scheduled to receive the second dose Wednesday but will now wait until she is through quarantining, said Michelle Koepp, a spokeswoman for Granger. People are expected to get some level of protection within a couple of weeks after the first shot, but full protection may not happen until a couple of weeks after the second shot. Texas has set new highs for hospitalized COVID-19 patients seven times in the past eight days.
Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger tests positive for coronavirus
Granger tested positive for the respiratory disease after arriving in Washington, D.C. and is โasymptomatic and feeling great,โ her office said in a statement. In July, she announced she tested negative after coming in contact with U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, who later tested positive for the COVID-19. The first statewide elected official to publicly confirm a positive coronavirus test was Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann in May. Other state lawmakers, including Rep. Tony Tinderholt, Sen. Kel Seliger and outgoing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen have tested positive. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also tested positive in early December.
Arizona congressman tests positive for virus; 2nd this week
(Bonnie Cash/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON The chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee said Saturday he tested positive for the coronavirus days after he sat close to another member of the panel, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, who also tested positive. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said in a statement that he has the virus but, like Gohmert, has no symptoms. He is at least the 11th member of Congress known to have tested positive for the coronavirus. Grijalva went into isolation after Gohmert tested positive on Wednesday, since the two had sat close to each other at a Natural Resources hearing the day before. The White House tests anyone who will be in close proximity to the president, which is how Gohmert found out he had the virus.
Despite COVID crisis, Congress seeks to do its day job
On Friday, the House passed a $259 billion funding bill for foreign aid and the Interior, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs departments along party lines. The measure is the first annual spending measure to pass either the House or Senate this year, but it has scant chance of becoming law, serving instead as a springboard for negotiations down the line. And if Trump loses the election, Democrats are likely to wait until the Biden administration is in place before wrapping up the annual bills, which fund the annual operations of federal Cabinet agencies. The Senate Appropriations panel canceled plans for drafting its 12 annual bills after Democrats served notice they would offer amendments on COVID relief and policing reform that Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., deemed too politically troublesome. As a result, Congress is likely to return to Washington in September to handle a stopgap funding bill that would last until December to prevent a campaign season government shutdown.