Pelosi Rejects Call For Recess Over Coronavirus Threat

The Hill reports:

With the Capitol consumed by anxiety over the coronavirus, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) rose in a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday and told his Democratic colleagues they should leave Washington and return home to their districts, where they would be safer.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) immediately quashed the idea, according to multiple sources in the room. “We are the captains of the ship. We are the last to leave,” she told her caucus, borrowing a line uttered moments earlier by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), a Navy veteran.

There’s been some disagreement about who has the ultimate authority to make the decision to close the Capitol. Pelosi said Monday that it was up to the Capitol physician and Capitol Police. Asked by The Hill if she would extend next week’s spring recess, Pelosi replied: “That’s not planned.”