Once again, COVID rules appear to apply only to us, not to the liberal politicians who make them.
Despite regular reminders that someone with coronavirus must remain in isolation for up to 14 days, Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) went to vote in person on the House floor to reelect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as speaker after having announced that she tested positive for COVID-19 just six days before.
Moore said on December 28 that she had tested positive for the virus, though did not specify on what day exactly she had tested positive. Nor did she say if she had yet tested negative.
“Thank you all for the well wishes,” Moore wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “I am feeling good! My quarantine is over and I am medically cleared to travel and work on behalf of Wisconsin’s Fourth Congressional District.”
Three other members of Congress, meanwhile, had to vote by “special arrangements” because they were still within their quarantine windows even though they had already tested negative.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those who test COVID-positive should ideally stay in 14-day quarantine to reduce the risk of spreading the virus; that can be reduced to 10 days without a COVID-19 test if the person reports no symptoms or seven days with a negative test result if the person reports no symptoms.
The three members of Congress who received special arrangements, two Democrats and one Republican, were given a special entrance closed off to the public and enclosed by plexiglass in the gallery.
“Upon the direction of the Office of the Attending Physician and the House Sergeant at Arms, a secure enclosure has been erected in Gallery 4 of the House Chamber to allow members who are in quarantine status to fulfill their Constitutional duties,” Dr. Brian Monahan, attending physician of the U.S. Congress, said in a statement.
Republicans lashed out at Moore and Pelosi over the former’s decision to report for duty despite the supposed threat of COVID-19 that Democrats regularly fuel fears about.
Steve Guest, the Republican National Committee’s rapid response director, wrote on Twitter:
Moore, however, maintained that she did not expect the coronavirus diagnosis to interfere with her congressional work.
Ironically, she then went on to urge Americans to continue taking coronavirus precautions.
Pelosi sent out warnings to lawmakers to social distance on Sunday, calling in a letter for “respecting proper health and safety guidelines on the floor.”
“When staff urge you to leave the floor, it is not a suggestion. It is a direction, in the interest of keeping the Congress healthy and intact,” Pelosi wrote.
“As Members of Congress, we are considered essential workers. We must take our responsibility seriously,” Pelosi added, directing lawmakers to “wear masks at all times,” “respect social distancing,” and “limit the number of Members on the floor.”
As has repeatedly been shown, Democrats only care about “super-spreaders” and “endangering” others when it’s Republicans being “reckless.” When it’s something that benefits them, such as Black Lives Matter riots and dancing in Times Square, Democrats have no issue with throwing caution to the wind.
And this time, it was definitely to Pelosi’s benefit, as the 80-year-old needed every vote she could get to squeak out a victory and become Speaker of the House again. She narrowly defeated Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) 216-209 in the contest to lead the chamber for the next two years.
Expect Pelosi’s new tenure to include support for popular far-left policies such as the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and social-justice causes. The longtime Washington fixture has taken heat of late from the progressive wing of her party. Nevertheless, many of these young, left-wing firebrands ultimately voted to give Pelosi another chance.
Among them was Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a Democratic-Socialist, who told reporters unity was important “at a time when the Republican Party is attempting an electoral coup” and that she and other progressives “have been in conversations and negotiations” with the Speaker, although Ocasio-Cortez did not specify the result of those discussions.
Furthermore, CNN reported that “Pelosi suggested that this would be her last term in office, striking a deal with a small group of Democratic rebels that she would serve no more than two terms as Speaker.”
