A U.S. Senate Democrat on Wednesday accused Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of endangering the lives of Senate staff if he brings them back to work next week without effective safeguards against coronavirus infection in place.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, whose state of Maryland contains several suburbs of Washington where federal workers live, said he had written to McConnell to demand details of how staff will be protected when the Senate returns to session on Monday.
The response to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 58,000 Americans has begun to break down along party lines with many Democrats urging continued social distancing and some Republicans arguing that the widespread closures of businesses are taking too heavy an economic toll on the nation.
But McConnell has stuck to the Republican-run Senate’s plan to be back at work on Monday after an extended recess, saying Wednesday that senators would not “sit on the sidelines.” McConnell’s office did not reply to a request for comment on Van Hollen’s letter.
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