Official: Vice President Pence self-isolated after aide positive for virus
Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence's spokeswoman and the wife of White House aide Stephen Miller, tested positive for coronavirus. Credit: AFP via Getty Images/Alastair Pike
Vice President Mike Pence was self-isolating Sunday after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus last week, but he planned to return to the White House on Monday.
An administration official said Pence was voluntarily keeping his distance from other people in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has repeatedly tested negative for COVID-19 since his exposure but was following the advice of medical officials.
His action came after three of the nation’s top scientists took their own protective steps following possible exposure to a White House staffer infected by the coronavirus.
“Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine,” spokesman Devin O’Malley said Sunday. “Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow.”
Pence has been at home since returning to Washington from a day trip to Iowa on Friday and did not appear at President Donald Trump's meeting with military leaders Saturday at the White House. Pence was informed of the aide's positive test shortly before departing for that trip.
An official initially said Pence planned to continue working from home, before Pence's office clarified that he planned to work from the White House on Monday. It was not immediately clear how Pence's steps to self-isolate would impact his professional or public engagements.
Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Pence, tested positive for coronavirus last week, as did one of President Donald Trump's military valets, according to news reports.
A top economic adviser to Trump said Sunday that more White House officials may need to self-quarantine.
A spokeswoman for Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Washington Post that working from home will be among the precautions Fauci takes. Dr. Robert Redfield, CDC director, and Dr. Stephen Hahn, Food and Drug Administration commissioner, have said they will self-quarantine or work from home, according to The Washington Post.
Asked Sunday on ABC's "This Week" if more White House personnel will need to follow those officials' leads, White House National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said: "There may be. I don't want to rule anything in or rule anything out."
Kudlow told ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos: "At the moment, there's daily testing, as you may know, for people who come into contact with the president and the vice president. Everybody wants to be safe."
Kevin Hassett, a White House senior adviser, acknowledged that working in the West Wing's close quarters can be risky. Hassett, who had left the Trump administration after serving for two years and returned in March to help with the coronavirus emergency, said, "I knew when I was going back in that I would be taking risks, that I would be safer sitting at home at my house than going into a West Wing that, even with all the testing in the world and the best medical team on Earth, is a relatively cramped place."
Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
