Another assistant to a member of the Republican House of Representatives recounted how staff were allowed to work from home for several days when a colleague in the office was believed to have been exposed. “Even then,” said this person, “many of my colleagues continued to work in the office. We were told to report to work normally even before the test was negative because the results were taking too long. They left me feeling guilty about telecommuting, even though I have an underlying health condition. “
An administrative employee who often visits multiple offices found that wearing masks was “nearly universal in Democratic offices” but “probably less than 50 percent” among Republicans.
Masking has become a “political minefield” that creates uncomfortable encounters at times, this person related: “[S]Some Republican offices ask you why you wear a mask, which puts our staff in an awkward position. Are you saying because of the pandemic and the risk that the office will take it as a political position? Do you take it off to make them feel better?
Limited resource personnel
Since the House began voting regularly this summer, dozens, if not hundreds, of offices have reopened in some way, many with a skeleton team, but others, particularly members of the Republican Party, which have required almost all staff to return to work in person.
And the return of hundreds of employees has resurfaced a decades-old problem for the Capitol: More than 25 years after the passage of the Congressional Accountability Act in an attempt to reform culture on Capitol Hill, it remains a brutal workplace. and relentless.
Part of the problem is the dispersed human resource system dispersed throughout the Capitol complex. There is no centralized human resources department: each of the 535 legislators and senators is their own employer, with their own set of office policies and protocols.
Employees who may be uncomfortable with what is happening in an office sometimes have limited resources. For example, if a staff member is uncomfortable with mask policies in an office, that person may contact the Employee Advocacy Office, which provides free legal advice to House employees, or the Bureau of Labor Rights. congressional.
But there aren’t some centralized complaints or concerns about database tracking, just as there isn’t a singular database to track down potential coronavirus infections among the more than 20,000 workers who inhabit the Capitol complex, thousands of employees, and hundreds of legislators.
At least 86 Capitol workers have tested positive for coronavirus, according to a House aide familiar with the data. That includes 25 employees of the Capitol Architect, 28 Capitol Police and 33 people working on the renovation of the Cannon building. But the reporting is voluntary and does not include data from House officials or legislators who have tested positive.
Other attendees note that overall, there appears to be relatively few cases of coronavirus on Capitol Hill, suggesting that many offices follow public health guidelines.
Despite the swift move to mask mandates in the House earlier this week, Democratic advisers say Congress is unlikely to start demanding evidence for members, despite calls by some Republicans to do so. Republicans, those Democratic aides say, are not being completely honest about the logistics of implementing a regular screening regime for hundreds of lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff and aides who would also need to be screened.
Instead, Democrats think the best solution is to fully enforce current policies, including the new mask mandate. If a member refuses to wear a mask on the floor of the home or in connected office buildings and ignores various warnings to do so, they are much more likely to be escorted out of the area until they comply, according to Democratic aides. familiar with politics.
On the Senate side, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged people to wear masks, although he remains skeptical of the need to demand them. When asked about the idea recently by PBS’s Judy Woodruff, he said the Senate had experienced “good compliance” without a mandate. Depressed even more, he said, “It seems not necessary as everyone seems to be doing it.”
Jake Sherman, Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle, and Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.
