Pelosi aide, White House official test positive for Covid-19 after contact with Texas Democrats

A senior spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a White House official tested positive for Covid-19 after coming into contact with Democrats from the Texas state legislature last week.

The Pelosi spokesperson had helped show the Texas lawmakers, who came to Washington, D.C., to stop their majority-conservative state legislature from passing new voting restrictions, around the Capitol.

Over the weekend, five Texas lawmakers tested positive for Covid-19, with a sixth case announced on Monday. The positive tests sparked concerns regarding which federal lawmakers the Texas Democrats came into contact with, though White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Monday that Vice President Kamala Harris, who met with them last week, has since tested negative.
The speaker's spokesperson was fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and had no contact with Pelosi since being exposed to the virus, according to the speaker’s office.

“The entire Press Office is working remotely today with the exception of individuals who have had no exposure to the individual or have had a recent negative test,” Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our office will continue to follow the guidance of the Office of Attending Physician closely.”

Psaki confirmed during Tuesday's press briefing that a fully vaccinated White House official tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, saying the official currently "remains off-campus as they wait for a confirmatory PCR test." She said the White House medical unit has conducted contact tracing and interviews, finding no close contact among White House principals, staff or President Joe Biden.

Psaki said this isn't the first breakthrough case at the White House. There have been other instances of vaccinated employees testing positive, Psaki said, though they were not commissioned officers and therefore were not reported by the administration.

"We committed that we would release information proactively if it is commissioned officers," she said, adding that "we continue to abide by that commitment." Commissioned officers hold a high-level position where they work for the president, rather than working for another White House official.

Asked later in the briefing whether the newly Covid-positive individual is a commissioned officer, Psaki said no. Were they a commissioned officer, Psaki said the White House would have "proactively" released information about their positive test. As it was, Axios reported the positive case before the White House released a public statement about the breakthrough infection.

Asked whether the administration fears that these breakthrough cases will spur more vaccine hesitancy among Americans, Psaki said she hasn't seen data to indicate this trend. She also reiterated the White House's testing protocols and emphasized that those who are more regularly in contact with Biden are also tested more regularly.

"We know that there will be breakthrough cases, but as this instance shows, cases in vaccinated individuals are typically mild," she said. "The White House is prepared for breakthrough cases with regular testing. This is another reminder of the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalizations, and of course we wish our colleague a speedy recovery."