Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah) announced on Friday that he has tested positive for coronavirus.
The news came after President Trump revealed that he and First Lady Melania Trump have contracted the virus, along with White House aide Hope Hicks and RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. Lee has made multiple appearances on Capitol Hill and at the White House in recent days, although it is not apparent that his case is connected to the president’s.
On Tuesday, Lee met with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett contracted coronavirus during the summer and has since recovered, the Washington Post reported, and on Friday Barrett tested negative for a reinfection.
“Yesterday morning, I was experiencing symptoms consistent with longtime allergies. Out of an abundance of caution, I sought medical advice and was tested for COVID-19…yesterday’s test came back positive,” Lee said in a statement on Friday. The Utah senator will quarantine for at least ten days.
Lee added that he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Senate Judiciary Committee head Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) “and assured them I will be back to work in time” to advance “the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.”
Republicans are attempting to confirm Barrett as Supreme Court justice before election day, over the objections of Democrats. Lee was set to take part in Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Barrett.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and ranking Judiciary Committee member Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) called for the Barrett hearings to be delayed following the news that President Trump contracted coronavirus.
“It is premature” for Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) “to commit to a hearing schedule when we do not know the full extent of potential exposure stemming from the president’s infection,” Schumer and Feinstein said in a statement.