

“The thing that we’re trying to do is to try to not think about that. The perceptions and the politics of this are truly taking a back seat for us,” said Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who faces an uphill battle for reelection this fall. “I will be judged. I’m happy to be judged on whatever I say and do at that point come November.”

At times, Congress has put away its partisan swords to pass massive pieces of legislation to respond to the disease, including the unheard of unanimous votes for March's "Phase 3" package. But bad habits die hard: On Thursday, Senate Democrats and Republicans deadlocked over an extension of small-business relief, leaving the timing and scope of the next round of aid uncertain.

Still, there’s simply no end in sight to the amount of money Congress is likely to dedicate to the crisis — and yet some economists fear Washington is not moving quickly enough to fill the growing hole in the economy.

The gravity of the situation is just beginning to sink in with elected officials whose lives and jobs have been upended just like the rest of the public. Lawmakers are now scattered around the country: Some are stuck in D.C. while others are quarantined in their homes. Their jobs toggle between constituent services and big picture legislative thinking as they pore over grim projections that change hourly.

“The landscape is changing so quickly,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).

“I don’t know if many of us have had time to even process it,” added Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).

Caucus meetings are done by conference call. No one knows when Congress will come back for business as usual.

Aides worry about logistics and try to virtually staff their bosses, setting up Skype studios to do TV hits. Some TV stations aren’t even letting guests inside; Hawley’s outdoor hit on Fox News last week was punctuated by bird chirps piercing the air.

Senators work the phone for hours as they deal with a flood of interest in small-business grants and loans, cut deals for medical supplies and call one another to commiserate and try and plan the next round of trillion-dollar spending.

“We’re really busy,” said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who’s helping broker deals for more supplies and trying to relax restrictions on new testing in his state and tariffs on goods needed during the pandemic.

“No possible way would I have imagined my making calls to federal officials on a Saturday in spring trying to get more guidance so that our companies can make protective gear,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has served three terms in the Senate and two terms as governor and done stints as a Cabinet secretary and university president. But he doesn’t have the luxury of easing into retirement at the end of the year as he finds himself in the middle of what he calls a “fascinating moment,” if also a dire one.

“I’ve been on the phone until my neck hurts,” Alexander said. “I find myself sort of exhausted at the end of the day from the phone calls and the discussions I’m having about the present and what comes next.”