Today's Politico Playbook Audio Briefing is presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Good Tuesday morning. I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your Politico Playbook Audio Briefing.

And I'm Jake Sherman. By this time next week, hundreds of more people are going to be in Washington,

flocking to the Capitol and its associated office buildings for the return of the United States Congress.

Many of them will come off planes, slog through train stations, and have driven cars to the nation's capital. Just the kind of

behavior public health experts and most political leaders are discouraging. Congress will be back.

It will be back before baseball kicks off its season, before the economy opens in states like

New York, Maryland, California, and Illinois, and before most constituents

are permitted to open their doors to earn a living for their family again.

It will be back even as stadiums, convention centers, and fields are used as makeshift hospitals.

It will be back before we have a therapeutic or vaccine to combat the virus.

It will be back when we still have more questions and answers about the propriety of hundreds of people gathering in the capital. Will lawmakers and their staff get their temperature checked when they get in the complex? Will there be any sort of screening? How many staffers is each member allowed to bring? We know they can't operate on their own. For those who sleep in the complex, will they be able to do so? Will they be able to open the gym so those lawmakers could shower? Will they be

forced into DC hotels, which are expected to be very limited? How will the Capitol's cafeteria

open, since most of them are centered around a large buffet? Will there be social distancing

at the security checkpoints in the Capitol?

Will each office get deep cleans, just like the House Chamber did each day?

Will constituents be able to visit the Capitol?

Will lobbyists and other people seeking to have their voice heard be allowed to enter the complex?

We're not going to say there's no plan for this yet because we were told there is and the leadership does have a plan.

We have a lot of questions that we will answer in the next day or so about how the most populous institution in our nation's capital, the town square for American politics, can exist with a massively communicable disease being passed around. Here's a problem for which there's no solution. Last week, many Republicans declined to wear masks on the house floor, as our colleague John Bresnahan pointed out. So if the two sides don't agree on the same set of facts, it's tough for the institution to keep people safe. Our colleagues, Heather

Kagle and Burgess Everett, have a piece up on House Democrats decrying a dangerous return to

the Capitol. Congress has lots to get done when it's here. It will be quite busy.

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