US President Joe Biden signs H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, during a ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 6, 2022.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for Covid, but does not have any symptoms, her office said Thursday.
“After testing negative this week, Speaker Pelosi received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic,” her deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill said in a Twitter post.
Pelosi’s positive test is the latest in a series of Covid diagnoses among high-ranking government officials who attended Washington’s Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner on Saturday night.
While Pelosi didn’t attend the annual gala, Hammill told CNBC, more than a dozen DC powerbrokers who were there have since tested positive. That includes Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Reps. Joaquin Castro and Adam Schiff.
Pelosi’s test result also comes a day after the California Democrat stood next to President Joe Biden at a bill signing event at the White House;
Biden on Wednesday night tested negative for Covid “as part of his regular testing cadence,” the White House said in a statement.
“The President is not considered a close contact of Speaker Pelosi as defined by the” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the statement said. The President saw Speaker Pelosi at White House events and had brief interactions over the course of the last two days.”
“He will continue to be tested regularly. The President wishes Speaker Pelosi a speedy recovery,” the White House said.
The 82-year-old Pelosi is second in line in the order of presidential succession, after Vice President Kamala Harris, in the event that Biden dies or is incapacitated.
“The Speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided,” Hammill wrote on Twitter.
“The Speaker will quarantine consistent with CDC guidance, and encourages everyone to get vaccinated, boosted and test regularly.”
Politico reported Wednesday that several journalists who attended the Gridiron dinner also had tested positive.
CIA Director William Burns also tested positive for the virus last week.
– Additional reporting by Kevin Breuninger
