The Mood in the Capitol Was Already Dark. Then Came Omicron.

WASHINGTON — Across the country, the Omicron variant has sent coronavirus infections into the stratosphere. Winter upwind and bare shelves person turned moods surly. Americans person turned connected each different implicit vaccinations, mandates and masks.

And astatine the U.S. Capitol, wherever each mode of radical are thrown unneurotic successful an unhappy stew, the infinitesimal was crystallized this week successful a hot-mic episode. In an audible whisper, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s apical infectious illness expert, summed up his feelings for different physician, Senator Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas.

“What a moron,” Dr. Fauci said connected Tuesday aft a testy speech with the legislator implicit the infectious illness expert’s fiscal disclosures. “Jesus Christ.”

Just erstwhile it seemed arsenic if the ambiance connected Capitol Hill could not get worse, Omicron came to town. At slightest 129 House members and senators person announced a coronavirus corruption since the outset of the pandemic, astir a 4th of the lawmakers successful Congress. A baker’s twelve announced infections successful the past week alone. A disguise mandate that has been lone fitfully respected by Republicans successful the House was turned up a notch to necessitate lone N95s and KN95s — and compliance is conscionable arsenic spotty.

Social distancing is back; erstwhile the assemblage of Harry Reid, the erstwhile Senate bulk leader, laic successful authorities successful the Capitol Rotunda connected Wednesday, chairs were arranged respective feet apart. The expansive atrium of the Capitol Visitor Center, erstwhile filled with tourists, has been reconfigured with stanchions to demarcate the Covid investigating enactment for lawmakers and unit members.

Schadenfreude is successful afloat tilt.

Democrats cackled astir what Dr. Fauci called Mr. Marshall; Republicans countered by invoking Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, who was spotted maskless successful Miami Beach precocious past month. Her bureau announced on Sunday that she had tested affirmative for the virus.

Of course, it is nary laughing matter. Two Republicans person died aft contracting Covid — Representative Ron Wright of Texas and Representative-elect Luke Letlow of Louisiana — and the refusal of immoderate lawmakers connected the close fringe to deterioration a disguise successful the hustle and bustle of House level votes has immoderate colleagues fearing for their health.

“I spot radical — members, unit — without masks,” the House sergeant-at-arms, William J. Walker, a erstwhile District of Columbia National Guard commander, said this week. “I’ll locomotion up to them and inquire them to enactment the disguise on. Some conscionable locomotion distant from me.”

On the House level connected Wednesday, Representative Brian Mast, Republican of Florida, walked done the good connected 2 prosthetic legs, smiling broadly without his mask. In the backmost of the chamber, Georgia’s maskless duo, Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andrew Clyde, some Republicans, held tribunal seemingly without a care, definite to get fined for their rule-breaking but assured their fortunes could grip it.

(Ms. Greene’s begetter built a important Atlanta-area gathering institution earlier selling it to his girl and son-in-law, portion Mr. Clyde’s hulking weapon shop, Clyde Armory, has kept him flush. They person already absorbed much than $100,000 successful fines for their disguise strike.)

Speaking conscionable extracurricular the enclosure with his disguise off, Representative Lee Zeldin, Republican of New York, was nonchalant. Omicron is mild, helium said, and the steep emergence successful cases, successful his location region connected Long Island and crossed the country, volition beryllium followed, helium hoped, by an arsenic steep decline.

“Those who are investigating affirmative see the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, but for those I talk to — and determination are galore who person tested affirmative successful caller weeks — fortunately for them, each azygous idiosyncratic I’ve spoken to has had a overmuch milder acquisition than what was experienced successful past variants,” said Mr. Zeldin, who is moving for politician of New York.

Democrats thin to beryllium a small little sanguine. Signs posted passim the House proclaim successful each superior letters “USE OF FACE COVERINGS REQUIRED,” but they look to person lone made the defiant excavation in.

“That benignant of defiance, we spot it each crossed the committee here,” said Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the Democratic whip, who missed his granddaughter’s wedding past period arsenic helium battled Covid. “And these are radical who I anticipation volition beryllium capable to past immoderate comes their way.”

The procedural machinations astir voting rights authorities and the hand-wringing implicit President Biden’s societal information nett and clime alteration measure tin look a spot beside the constituent erstwhile cases are soaring, hospitalizations nationwide are up 84 percent implicit the past 2 weeks and the mean fig of deaths now exceeds 1,700 a day.

Behind those marquee issues, the pandemic is again rising arsenic a governmental focus. House Democrats connected Wednesday rushed retired new authorities to supply escaped at-home coronavirus tests portion Senator Bernie Sanders, autarkic of Vermont, reintroduced his measure to nonstop N95 masks to each home.

For their part, Republicans appeared to person determined that the existent victims of the microorganism were those who refused to beryllium vaccinated against it.

House Republican leaders forced Democrats to ballot connected a procedural question to guarantee that work members discharged for refusing to beryllium vaccinated would not suffer their G.I. Bill benefits. It failed.

Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, and 19 different House members connected the party’s close flank besides introduced a measure to artifact the District of Columbia from requiring vaccinations to participate establishments similar restaurants, clubs and performance venues.

The struggle that erupted this week betwixt Dr. Fauci and Mr. Marshall was implicit a superior issue, arsenic was a clash betwixt the infectious illness adept and Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky.

Mr. Paul, an ophthalmologist, accused Dr. Fauci and the manager of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis S. Collins, of collaborating to smear scientists who disagreed with them. That prompted Dr. Fauci to recount the apprehension of a California antheral who was driving crossed the state with an AR-15; the antheral was accused of readying to termination Dr. Fauci, among different nationalist figures.

And though Dr. Fauci could easy parry Mr. Marshall’s insinuation that helium was someway hiding his fiscal disclosure records, fewer could reason with the senator’s assertion that authorities messages person been mixed and confusing connected quarantine lengths and investigating during the Omicron surge.

“The American people, my family, each of our families, are struggling arsenic this pandemic continues to resistance connected with nary extremity successful sight,” Mr. Marshall said during a sparsely attended hearing, depleted of participants and observers due to the fact that of Covid’s resurgence. “The words I perceive each day, aggregate times each day, proceed to resonate and echo successful my mind, words like, ‘I’m tired, confused, burned out.’”

Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma, agreed connected Wednesday that the temper successful the Capitol reflected the temper astatine home.

“Obviously it’s a precise hard time,” helium said. “We each thought we’d beryllium connected apical of the microorganism now. We’re intelligibly not.”

He added: “We’ll get done it. The country’s seen a batch darker days than these.”

Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.