Missouri News

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley Tests Negative For Covid-19 After 'Potential Exposure' At White House

KCUR | By Aviva Okeson-Haberman

Published October 3, 2020 at 8:51 PM CDT

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley attended a Sept. 26, 2020, White House Rose Garden event. At least eight people at Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination ceremony have since tested positive for the coronavirus.

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley tested negative for the coronavirus Saturday, sharing the news on Twitter.

Hawley previously tested negative for the virus but decided to get tested again to be safe, according to the Kansas City Star.

The freshman senator sat unmasked in the second row of the White House Rose Garden event last week where President Donald Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

Since then at least eight people who attended the event, including the president who is being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, former senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to NPR.

Hawley wasn’t experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms but “consulted with his personal physician and the Office of the Attending Physician about his potential exposure to people with COVID-19,” according to a spokeswoman for the senator.

Hawley serves on the Judiciary Committee which is moving forward with Judge Barrett’s Oct. 12 Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

But, the positive test results of Lee and Tillis, who also serve on the Judiciary Committee have raised questions about its ability to hold hearings.

Chairman Lindsey Graham said on Twitter Friday that senators would be allowed to “participate virtually” if they wished, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described the confirmation process as “full steam ahead,” according to the AP.