Nancy Pelosi and the House need to get back to work and try to help this country deal with the crisis and it seemed that she was going to finally get down to it.
But latest news say that after Pelosi announced that the House would be back on May 4th, now she just changed her mind. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz also agreed saying returning next week would be “dangerous.”
The Daily Mail reported that the House of Representatives will no longer come back in session on May 4, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday on a call with reporters.
Hoyer instead said the Congressional session would resume ‘very soon,’ but also explained that the Attending Physician of the United States Congress, Dr. Brian Monahan, indicated it was too much of a health risk for members to come back to Washington, D.C., because coronavirus cases in the area hadn’t decreased in number yet.
“There was a risk to members that he would not recommend taking,” Hoyer said.
The No. 2 Democrat also said the session was delayed because CARES 2, the next coronavirus package Congress will take up, isn’t ready for a vote yet.
Hoyer’s announcement was an about-face, as House Democrats were informed on a call Monday that they were to come back to town in one week’s time.
Many other House Democrats rebelled against that plan, with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat who previously led the Democratic National Committee, calling the move ‘dangerous,’ Politico reported.
“Nancy and I have talked a couple of times today,” Hoyer said, according to Politico’s account. “We have decided we will come back on the 4th.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already announced that the Senate would come back into session next Monday.
“Look, it doesn’t make sense for the Senate to sit on the sidelines while a lot of other people are going to work everyday and trying to get us through this,” McConnell told Politico in an interview.
Hoyer’s call to return to Washington was met with resistance, with members includings Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, Susan Wild of Pennsylvania and Veronica Escobar of Texas speaking up, according to Politico’s account.
They also asked how they were supposed to deal with childcare with schools across the country closed and with Hoyer suggesting they might be needed in Washington for an extended stay.
