Minnesota senator tests positive for COVID-19

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith (D) on Tuesday announced she has tested positive for COVID-19.

“I tested positive for COVID this morning after developing mild symptoms Sunday night,” Smith said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I’ll stay here in Minnesota while following CDC guidelines.”

Smith’s positive test comes as the Senate moves toward critical votes this week on legislation to prevent a government shutdown.

The Senate is likely to need 60 votes on a series of procedural motions to move toward passing a stopgap measure later this week.

It’s unclear how critical Smith’s vote might be, though Democrats in general have a narrow majority in the Senate of 51-49. Their majority includes independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Angus King (Maine).

The Senate is working to craft a short-term government funding measure ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline for funding the government. A big question is whether the measure will include significant amounts of money for the war in Ukraine or disaster relief.