Vice-President Kamala Harris tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, becoming the highest member of the executive branch to come down with COVID since President Joe Biden took office. Harris, who received a second booster vaccine earlier this month, is asymptomatic and will work while self-isolating, according to a spokesperson.
While Harris was scheduled on Tuesday to receive the president’s daily briefing with Biden in person, the White House says she did not attend any meetings that day. The VP’s press secretary, Kirsten Allen, added that, over the past few days, Biden had not been considered a “close contact” of the vice-president, who has been in California.
Harris is not the only Democrat in Washington stuck at home with the virus right now: On Tuesday, Senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Ron Wyden of Oregon tested positive, which could impact Senate-confirmation plans later this week. The confirmations of Lisa Cook to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and Alvaro Bedoya to lead the Federal Trade Commission were scheduled to occur on the Senate floor in the coming days, though the fact that both were deadlocked in committee and advanced to the floor on party-line votes could potentially mean further delay.
