Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Omicron is a good excuse for working remotely, for teachers, but anything that gets Congress to work remotely can only be a good thing.
And yet I can’t help but note that Biden held a virtual democracy summit but attended the global warming COP fest in person.
If members of Congress held Zoom meetings from their own districts, our government would be better for it. I can’t think of what’s accomplished with in-person meetings except political grandstanding and backroom deals. Not to mention keeping D.C. eateries in business.
So I fully endorse this. Even if it means having to put up with AOC partying maskless in Florida while whining about Gov. DeSantis.
The Capitol’s attending physician on Monday urged congressional offices to shift towards remote work due to a skyrocketing coronavirus positivity rate among staff.
The more remote the better. I hear WeWork is opening office space in North Korea.
“These variant viruses have caused an unprecedented number of cases in the Capitol community affecting hundreds of individuals,” Monahan wrote.
Hundreds out of what? The Capitol Police have 2,000 sworn officers and House members had 3,695 staffers (total 6,880 nationwide) and Senate members had 2,342 staffers (total 4,120 nationwide) working in their D.C. offices for a combined 6,037 people. That’s up from 146 in 1891, and 304 in 1943, which is understandable since our government works much better now than when we won WW2.
And that’s presumably not counting the janitors and assorted service personnel. Are we talking hundreds out of 15,000? 20,000?
“Congressional offices, Committees, and Agencies should immediately review their operations to adopt a maximal telework posture to reduce in-person meetings and in-office activities to the maximum extent possible,” Monahan wrote.
Or possibly suspend them entirely for the duration of this permanent emergency. Lock down D.C. and let Americans live their lives.
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