Brett Kavanaugh Tested Negative for COVID Ahead of Meeting Other SCOTUS Members on Monday
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated and showing no symptoms this week, tested negative for the virus as recently as Monday, the court said.
Justices were tested in advance of a private meeting Monday to discuss adding additional cases to their docket. They all tested negative at the time, including the 54-year-old Kavanaugh, the Associated Press reported.
No sitting justices have tested positive for the virus until now. Amy Coney Barrett said she had COVID-19 a year prior to joining the high court.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Kavanaugh was the only one of the nine justices to skip Friday's ceremonial swearing-in for Barrett, an event that itself was delayed nearly a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It's unclear whether Kavanaugh will attend the opening of the court's new term Monday, when the justices will return to the courtroom to hear arguments after an 18-month absence because of the pandemic. Oral arguments scheduled for October, November and December will be in the courtroom, but those sessions will not be open to the public. The public will continue to be able to listen to live broadcasts of the arguments.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people without symptoms self-isolate for 10 days after a positive COVID test. Kavanaugh took his test and was informed of the results on Thursday, the court said.
Kavanaugh's wife, Ashley, and daughters, all of whom are fully vaccinated, tested negative for the virus, the court said. Kavanaugh took part Wednesday in an annual three-mile run for charity in Washington that included other judges, elected officials, government workers and reporters. The court did not say how he might have come into contact with the virus.
The other justices were present for Barrett's ceremonial swearing-in. The five-minute ceremony in the justices' courtroom was a lower-key affair than past ceremonies, with approximately 100 guests at the invitation-only event. Former President Donald Trump and Melania Trump, who attended the ceremonies for Trump's other two high court appointees—Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch—did not attend, nor did President Joe Biden.
Barrett's commission to the high court was read during the ceremony, which produced the oddity that it named Trump as president and William Barr as attorney general, neither of whom is still holding office. Barrett then took the judicial oath with her hand on a family Bible.
While the guests wore masks, Barrett did not, nor did any of the other justices except Sonia Sotomayor, who has diabetes. All of the justices have been fully vaccinated for months.
Barrett posed for pictures after the ceremony on the steps and plaza of the Supreme Court with Chief Justice John Roberts. She and her husband also posed for photos on the plaza.
