Two members of U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s Washington, D.C., staff have tested positive for COVID-19, staffers of the Colorado Springs Republican confirmed to The Denver Post on Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, Lamborn is back in Colorado attending fundraisers and refusing to take a test himself, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
The highly contagious coronavirus has been spreading through the White House and Capitol at least since a Sept. 26 Rose Garden ceremony in which President Donald Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett as his Supreme Court nominee.
“The deputy chief of staff, who is also the legislative director, started feeling unwell sometime around Thursday or Friday and tested positive for COVID over the weekend,” one of Lamborn’s staffers told The Post.
Then, Lamborn’s military legislative assistant tested positive Tuesday, the source said.
“The chief of staff called and told us about the one positive case,” the source said. “Three or four more people are experiencing symptoms. … It was recommended that they not tell their roommates.”
The information was confirmed by a second Lamborn staff member.
Cassandra Sebastian, spokesperson for Lamborn, said the congressman’s staff will work virtually for the next two weeks and that constituent services will not be interrupted.
“Congressman Lamborn has been in contact with a physician within the attending physician’s office for the U.S. House of Representatives,” Sebastian said. “After giving detailed information to the office, including a lack of symptoms, he was advised that he did not need to be tested or quarantined for COVID-19.”
Lamborn will continue to monitor his condition and follow the advice of doctors, Sebastian said, declining to comment further on the condition of the congressman’s staff members.
Lamborn’s offices are among the few in Congress that haven’t closed due to the pandemic, his staffers said. His D.C. office employs about a dozen people, while the local office employs about seven.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began requiring masks to be worn on the House floor and in Capitol office buildings in July, but she and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have resisted calls for mandatory testing, according to The Hill.
Now that Lamborn is back in Colorado, he has been attending events and meeting with people, including a fundraiser Tuesday evening for 6th District Congressional District candidate Steve House, a fellow Republican. At least some attendees of the Colorado Springs event weren’t wearing masks, according to a photo former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams posted on Facebook.
House told 9News’ Marshall Zelinger that he spoke to Lamborn, who confirmed a staffer had tested positive, but that the congressman had little interaction with that person.
