Sen. Collins tests positive for COVID-19

Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) announced on Thursday that she had tested positive for COVID-19, soon after she was on the Senate floor to vote for the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. 

“Senator Collins has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently experiencing mild symptoms. The Senator will isolate and work remotely in accordance with CDC guidelines,” her office said in a statement. 

Collins was wearing a mask when she was on the floor, among just three Republicans who voted in favor of Jackson’s nomination. 

Hers is the latest in a series of positive COVID-19 tests that have occurred on Capitol Hill. 

Earlier Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she also tested positive for the virus and would be isolating. 

Pelosi was at the White House with President Biden on Wednesday as he signed the Postal Service reform bill, but the White House said Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday night. 

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) all tested positive for breakthrough cases of the virus on Wednesday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was not a close contact of Pelosi’s, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The way a close contact is defined, it’s not arbitrary, it’s not something made up by the White House, its CDC guidelines and how they define it is being within six feet for a cumulative total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period. They were not,” Psaki said Thursday, when asked about Biden’s interactions with Pelosi.

“All of their interactions were publicly available, I think you saw them, and that’s how that assessment is made.”