How The Coronavirus Has Affected Individual Members Of Congress

The coronavirus pandemic has upended the daily work of Congress.

Starting in March, House and Senate leaders delayed bringing back members for several weeks as public health guidelines recommended social distancing because of the outbreak.

The Senate returned in May, but the much larger House still stayed mostly away as a result of advice from the attending physician to Congress. That same month, the House approved historic rule changes allowing remote voting and hearings.

The virus has infected more than a dozen lawmakers and forced dozens more to self-quarantine. More than 100 members of their staffs and Capitol Hill workers have tested positive. And it remains an ongoing threat.

Two Republican lawmakers, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, were the first members of Congress to announce self-quarantines on March 8. Both had attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., a few days earlier. An attendee at the conference had fallen ill, its organizers revealed.