Kentucky's Rand Paul the first known U.S. senator to test positive for coronavirus

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Republican Rand Paul has become the first sitting member of the U.S. Senate to contract COVID-19 after the Kentucky lawmaker's office revealed he tested positive for the virus Sunday.

"He is feeling fine and is in quarantine," his office announced on Twitter. "He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events.

"He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person."

Paul's positive test prompted other senators who work alongside the Kentucky Republican to seek medical advice or testing or impose self-isolation, including Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, of Utah, CNN reported.

A Democratic senator from Arizona also lashed out at Paul.

"This, America, is absolutely irresponsible," tweeted Sen. Kristen Synema, D-Ariz. "You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus."

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President Donald Trump opened his press briefing on Sunday by sending his regards to Paul and calling him a friend.

“This is all starting to hit close to home," Trump said.

Paul is now the third member of Congress to test positive for COVID-19.

Last week, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Ben McAdams, D-Utah, announced they had tested positive for the virus, and dozens of other lawmakers who fear they may have been exposed have undergone self-quarantines.

Paul's revelation comes days after Kentucky's junior senator, a deficit hawk, opposed and delayed a $100 billion stimulus package to combat COVID-19, according to congressional leadership sources.

Earlier this month, Paul also was the lone senator to oppose a bipartisan $8 billion deal to provide emergency coronavirus funding.

Rand Paul attended fundraiser where virus was detected

Paul, 57, an ophthalmologist, was among the many high-profile attendees at the Speed Art Museum's "Speed Ball" fundraiser on March 7. At least three others who attended the gala — philanthropist Christy Brown, Louisville first lady Alexandra Gerassimides and Kentucky Author Forum leader Mary Moss Greenebaum — eventually tested positive for COVID-19.

Other Kentucky elected officials who attended the event, including Rep. John Yarmuth, Gov. Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. All three are Democrats and have tested negative.

"Wishing him the best, and it's obvious the virus is nonpartisan," Yarmuth told The Courier Journal Sunday.

Paul's office had avoided questions for days about whether he had been tested as a result of attending the fundraiser.

But spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper indicated Sunday that the test stemmed from Paul's attendance at the Speed Museum event. She said, "just like several Kentucky elected officials who attended the event in question," Paul took the test as a precaution.

However, on March 15, The Courier Journal asked whether Paul was self-isolating or taking any other steps regarding the virus after reporting that Brown and Greenebaum tested positive.

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Cooper did not address what action, if any, the senator was going to take. She emphasized in a March 15 email that Paul, "didn't interact with the known infected individual."

After Paul tested positive, Cooper told The Courier Journal Sunday that the senator decided to get tested "after attending an event where two individuals subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, even though he wasn't aware of any direct contact with either one of them."

Cooper did not respond to follow-up questions Sunday on what changed in the past week for Paul to get tested.

The senator also sought testing for the virus, Cooper said, because he had surgery last year when a portion of his lung was removed. The surgery was the result of a 2017 assault by one of Paul's neighbors in Bowling Green.

"Senator Paul is in a higher risk category as it relates to pulmonary issues," Cooper said.

Paul expects to be back to work after quarantine

Paul's tweet Sunday said the senator expects to return to work "after his quarantine period ends," but he will continue to "work for the people of Kentucky at this difficult time."

"Ten days ago, our D.C. office began operating remotely, hence virtually no staff has had contact with Sen. Paul," the senator's deputy chief of staff, Sergio Gor, said in a statement.

Paul's office also has not responded to questions about multiple media reports that he was at the Senate gym and pool Sunday morning before getting the test results back later that morning.

His staff bristled at those reports while ignoring the core question, tweeting that he left the Senate immediately upon learning of his diagnosis.

"He had zero contact with anyone (and) went into quarantine. Insinuations such as those below that he went to the gym after learning of his results are just completely false (and) irresponsible!"

Rand Paul's votes against coronavirus funding

Paul has been a proponent of addressing the country's national debt, which sits at about $23.2 trillion, since running for Senate in 2010.

The amendment Paul wanted for the $100 billion COVID-19 stimulus bill on Wednesday would have required a Social Security number for purposes of the child tax credit; to provide the president the authority to transfer funds as necessary; and terminate U.S. military operations and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan.

Paul argued mightily for the amendment, but the Republican-controlled Senate easily dismissed that idea, which received only three votes.

"I ask my colleagues to stop wasting money in this time of crisis," Paul said on Wednesday. "Stop being a rubber stamp for wasteful spending — do your jobs and prioritize our precious resources. It is our job and our responsibility to conserve our resources."

Paul was among the handful of senators who voted against the stimulus measure, which the Senate easily approved the stimulus measure by a 90-8 vote. The bill, sent to President Donald Trump, provides free testing, expands unemployment benefits and provides paid sick leave to some displaced workers.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also of Kentucky, voted for the proposal and has spent days negotiating an even larger legislative package with the Trump administration and other congressional leaders.

The McConnell plan seeks to send $1,200 checks to most U.S. adults and provides hundreds of billions for businesses that have been hit by the pandemic.

McConnell's office did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment in reaction to Paul testing positive.

Paul took a similar philosophical stand against government spending earlier this month when he opposed an $8 billion coronavirus emergency package, of which Kentucky received about $7 million in funding from.

"I support the money, I just think we should take it from somewhere else in the budget where it's not being used wisely," Paul told reporters while visiting a pharmaceutical service provider in Shepherdsville in early March.

Paul again struck out with Senate colleagues when he proposed an amendment that tried to take the $8 billion away from foreign aid. "I think really we ought to concentrate on our country," he said at the time.

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As news broke of his positive test, Paul received get-well wishes from constituents. But political rivals and at least one prominent media pundit were quick to call him out.

Political commentator Bill Kristol, a frequent Paul adversary, said it was "infuriating" how the senator was able to get tested while being asymptomatic.

"Meanwhile health-care providers treating patients on the front lines can't get tested if asymptomatic," said Kristol, who was founder of The Weekly Standard, a now-defunct conservative political magazine.

Reach Phillip M. Bailey at pbailey@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4475. Follow him on Twitter at @phillipmbailey.

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