A Socially Distanced Senate

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2020

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The congressional doctor expressed reservations about whether it was safe for the House and Senate to reconvene. Instead, only senators have returned to Capitol Hill, bringing our new normal — elbow bumps, masks and sanitizer — with them. So why was one chamber so determined to portray its members as essential workers in the pandemic? Guest: Nicholas Fandos, who covers Congress for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: With the Senate back in session, masked lawmakers, hushed corridors and socially distanced news conferences and hearings gave an eerie feel to the Capitol Hill routine.The confirmation hearing for Representative John Ratcliffe, the president’s pick to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies, was the first to employ social distancing rules for senators since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times, I'm Michael Babaro. This is The Daily.
0:04.0	Today, despite reservations from its own doctor, the Senate reconvened on Monday.
0:19.0	Nick Fandham's on why one chamber of Congress is so determined to return to Washington.
0:26.0	It's Wednesday, May 6.
0:38.0	Nick, give us the scene inside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday morning.
0:43.0	So, it's a totally surreal setup, particularly for those of us that are used to watching Congress.
0:51.0	In a wood paneled hearing room across the street from the Capitol,
0:56.0	which is usually before people getting ready to watch Senators question a witness,
1:02.0	instead you had a totally empty room.
1:08.0	You're really quiet.
1:11.0	Just a few Senators gathered at one side wearing masks.
1:15.0	They've got pumps of hand sanitizer at the ready.
1:18.0	Totally at the other side of the room, maybe 20 or 30 feet away, is a witness who's ready to give them testimony.
1:28.0	They wave across the room, Richard Burr, the chairman, and Mark Warner, the top Democrat, throw out their elbows for a little bit of an elbow bump.
1:41.0	But there's none of the usual energy that we'd see on a typical weekday morning in the Capitol.
1:49.0	And what exactly is happening in this very weird sounding scene?
1:55.0	What was playing out was a confirmation hearing.
1:59.0	In this case of John Radcliffe, who's a Republican congressman and a loyal supporter of President Trump,
2:06.0	who's now his nominee to be the director of National Intelligence to oversee the country's 17 intelligence agencies.
2:13.0	Skip, you ready?
2:16.0	Right at 930, Richard Burr, pulled down his mask and revealed a scraggly, uncharacteristic beard that evidently he'd been growing over the last month.
2:25.0	I mean, who hasn't?
	...

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