Interior Secretary David Bernhardt tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, and he got his test result back in time to sit out a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Interior spokesman Nicholas Goodwin said Bernhardt "is currently asymptomatic" and will continue to work in quarantine. Bernhardt, 51, is the latest Trump administration official to contract the coronavirus and the third top official at the Interior Department to test positive, The Washington Post reports.
"Following Bernhardt's diagnosis, employees at Interior were informed that a large holiday party that had been scheduled for Thursday has been canceled," the Post adds, citing two sources. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has thrown several holiday office parties, tested negative for COVID-19 but is in quarantine after coming into contact with someone who tested positive, the State Department said Wednesday. Pompeo also skipped President Trump's Cabinet meeting and reportedly canceled Wednesday night's holiday office party.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gavin Newsom mulls California redistricting to counter Texas gerrymanderingTALKING POINTS A controversial plan has become a major flashpoint among Democrats struggling for traction in the Trump era
-
6 perfect gifts for travel loversThe Week Recommends The best trip is the one that lives on and on
-
How can you get the maximum Social Security retirement benefit?the explainer These steps can help boost the Social Security amount you receive
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
