Durbin warns of 'dangerous and risky' Senate return on April 20
The Illinois Democrat says some lawmakers “decided they’re not going to get back on an airplane.”
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin is warning that the Senate coming back in two weeks as scheduled would be “dangerous and risky” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not made a scheduling announcement since slotting in a vote on Robert Feitel to be the inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 20, though senators in both parties have said that date may be moved to protect senators. The House is on a similar track.
Durbin (D-Ill.) said in an interview Wednesday that unless there’s a pressing need for a roll-call vote on the coronavirus response, sticking to that schedule would be a mistake.
“I don’t want to come back for the deputy secretary of the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, whatever it is. That to me is a dangerous and risky effort,” Durbin said. “At least one of my colleagues, when he returned home, he went to a hotel room and stayed for 14 days separate from his wife and family because he didn’t want to infect them. Are we going to repeat that for the deputy undersecretary? I’m sorry. That is unfair.”
The Senate can do much of its work by unanimous consent, which allows most senators to remain in their home states, provided that all 100 senators agree not to slow things down. That process will get a critical test on Thursday when McConnell’s party tries to pass $250 billion in new aid to small businesses, which Democrats are trying to add more money to for hospitals and local governments.
In an interview on Monday, Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who helps run the floor, said the plans to return on April 20 are fluid.
“As of right now, I think that comeback day was going to be that April 20 time frame. But that’s all up to the leader and whether or not by then, hopefully, at least, this thing is stabilized,” Thune said. “A lot of it will depend on what’s needed. We’re prepared to do whatever it takes. If the country needs us to respond in some way, we will.”
Privately, several aides have fretted about the logistics. Flights are being cut and it could take a day or more for lawmakers in far-flung states to get back to Washington.
And some lawmakers, Durbin said, have “decided they’re not going to get back on an airplane.”
“Think about all of the things you have to put into that calculation [of returning]. No. 1, what is the status of where you are sheltering? I don’t know if that’s going to be the peak infection period for my state of Illinois, or will it have turned a corner? Secondly, what are the logistics of returning to Washington?” he said. “Will there be airplanes if you want to get back?”
Durbin supports remote voting but said he's enough of a politician to know it won't be approved anytime soon.