WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Louie Gohmert’s positive coronavirus test has the potential to have far-reaching effects: from his contacts with fellow members and staffers to possible enhanced protective measures around the Capitol.

The Texas Republican has frequently skipped wearing a mask around the Capitol complex and his positive diagnosis is spurring calls from Democratic leaders to reconsider a testing mandate for lawmakers.

Politico first reported the news of Gohmert’s test result, which came because he was scheduled to go to Texas with President Donald Trump and was required to undergo a test.

“Too many Republicans have continued to act extraordinarily irresponsibly, including Louie Gohmert,” House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer told reporters on a press call Wednesday.

The Maryland Democrat added that the Gohmert revelation should revive a discussion of whether members need to be tested before entering the Capitol. “We’re not mandating testing at this point … but we’re discussing that,” Hoyer said. “We have discussed it in the past. This is a moment, I think, where we ought to be discussing it again.”

Hoyer also noted the case of Gohmert, who was present at Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, supports the Democrats’ advocacy and use of proxy voting, which House Republicans have strongly opposed.

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and many other Republicans filed a lawsuit against Speaker Nancy Pelosi to block the practice of voting by proxy.

Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused White House help to implement a testing regime for members in May, saying the resources should be allocated to hospitals and other places on the front line.

Gohmert was among the members taking part in an hourslong Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, and was one of a few Republicans who did not keep a mask on. Attorney General William Barr, the hearing’s witness, has reportedly taken a test due to his proximity to those members and Gohmert.

The coronavirus is not just affecting members of Congress; there are at least 81 front-line workers in the Capitol complex who have tested positive — or are presumed positive — for COVID-19, as of July 21.

There has been no guidance from leadership despite the rising cases.

“Oh, I’m so sorry for him,” Pelosi said Wednesday. “But I’m also sorry my members are concerned because he’s been showing up to his meetings without a mask and making a thing of it. So hopefully now he’ll look after his health and others.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said there should be more coronavirus testing available on Capitol Hill and has talked with McConnell and Attending Physician Brian Monahan.

“I suggested to the Leader several weeks ago that I thought we all should be tested when we go home so that we’re not carriers coming back and forth. And I’ve talked to Monahan, who said tests are more available today than they were. I haven’t asked about that lately.”

The House Administration Committee’s Republican staff tweeted that ranking member Rodney Davis of Illinois “had been urging the majority for months to implement a testing plan for not only members, but essential workers.”

A House Democratic aide said there has been significant discussion about mandating masks and changes to floor procedures, but no decision has been made yet.

In an interview with KETK, Gohmert recounted his experience. “The quick test was positive. … They did the one where they stick the swab way back up in your sinuses and anyway that one came back, it takes a little longer to get the answer, but it was positive,” he said, adding, “I didn’t have any of the symptoms that you see listed for the coronavirus.”

Gohmert continued: “The doctors at the White House and the attending physician here at the Capitol say you got to self-quarantine for 10 days once you actually test positive for it so that what I’ll need to do.”

This brings up the question of where Gohmert will quarantine. He is one of the members of Congress who sleeps in his office, but since that office is a workplace, that might not work.

Despite the diagnosis, Gohmert continued to question whether wearing a mask prevents spread of the virus, which puts him at odds with the medical and scientific consensus.

“I can’t help but wonder if by keeping a mask on and keeping it in place that if I might have put some germs, some of the virus onto the mask and breathed it in. I don’t know, but I got it,” he told KETK.