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Updated at 1:30 p.m. with fresh comments from the runaways

WASHINGTON After eight nights in a hotel a half-mile from the White House, the Texas Democrats who fled Austin over a voting rights dispute had grown a bit impatient for an invitation to meet with President Joe Biden.

We know the president is watching and were waiting for him to call, said state Rep. Ina Minjarez, D-San Antonio. We are willing and ready to meet with him whenever he would like that.

But that possibility grew remote Tuesday when an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi who had chaperoned the Texans at the Capitol last week tested positive for COVID-19.

So did a White House aide who may have spent time with the runaway legislators, six of whom have tested positive since Friday, three days after they spent an hour with Vice President Kamala Harris.

There has not been a meeting planned, and there hasnt been a change to that, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, confirming that a fully vaccinated White House official tested positive on Monday and is experiencing mild symptoms.

Contract tracing showed no exposure for the president, vice president or senior officials, though news of a breakthrough case, afflicting someone who had been vaccinated, was worrisome.

As for the presidents message to the Texans, she added: Thanks for standing up for voting rights and the rights of Americans to have our voices heard at the voting booth, and we appreciate your efforts in that regard.

And, implicitly: Keep your distance.

Everyone stricken so far the six Texas lawmakers and the aides to Pelosi and Biden was fully vaccinated. That should confer protection against any serious illness and mute the potential for contagion. So far, Reps. Donna Howard and Celia Israel of Austin and Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio have said they tested positive.

Were still working diligently through the COVID protocols that weve already set in place, said state Rep. Ron Reynolds, referring to daily tests for lawmakers and aides since Saturday, when the first three tested positive.

But the White House takes the health of the 78-year-old president very seriously.

The president is vaccinated, and that means he is protected, Psaki said, adding that Biden is tested every two weeks. Im tested twice a week. Many are tested twice a week. Some are tested once a week. Were all vaccinated.

Rapid tests are mandatory for journalists and others who enter the Oval Office or other meeting rooms with Biden or Harris. Until June 7, testing was required for anyone entering the White House complex, whether they might be in proximity to the president or not.

That requirement has since been lifted for people who are fully vaccinated.

But White House protocols still aim to keep out anyone recently exposed. And the 55 Texas Democrats have become potential vectors since fleeing Austin. Republicans point to photos of them aboard a flight to Washington, none wearing a mask technically allowed because it was a chartered flight, but a violation of CDC guidelines.

The White House is prepared for breakthrough cases with regular testing. This is another reminder of the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalizations and of course we wish our colleague, a speedy recovery, Psaki said.

The Republican National Committee labeled the Texans visit to Washington a superspreader event and urged the lawmakers to go back to Texas after self-isolating long enough for the risk to pass.

The Democrats fled Austin to break quorum in the Texas House, halting an elections bill demanded by Gov. Greg Abbott that they view as voter suppression.

If a sit-down with Biden isnt possible, Obviously wed welcome the opportunity to meet with the president virtually, said Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, who chairs the Texas House Democratic caucus.

He acknowledged that a Pelosi aide spent time with his caucus last week but said he cant be sure if thats how that person or anyone else caught COVID-19. We have no way of knowing, he said.

Of course we would love to visit with the president, Minjarez told reporters. We had the opportunity to meet with the vice president, and we have made our concerns known, the sense of urgency involved.

MSNBC devoted an hour Monday night to the fugitives. In deference to the outbreak, they appeared remotely rather than in-studio as planned, and a Tuesday meeting with U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn was also done virtually.

Even though were not doing as many in-person visits, were still having many meetings via Zoom, Reynolds said. Were being very creative and innovative.

U.S. Rep. Al Green of Houston led a letter to Biden last week signed by all 13 Texas Democrats in Congress, asking for him to meet with the runaways from the Legislature. Reynolds noted that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, another Houston congressperson, has also been prodding the White House to set that up.

We are optimistic that we will get a meeting with President Biden very, very soon, Reynolds said.

The Texans have used their time in Washington to lobby senators for stalled federal legislation that would supersede state-level elections laws and reimpose Justice Department scrutiny before Texas and other states with histories of discrimination could move a polling site, redraw district lines or make other changes that might impede minority voters. The Supreme Court ended that scrutiny in 2013, ruling that Congress would have to update the formula used to assess whether prior sins still justified such federal oversight.

The Texas Democrats argue that Senate Bill 7, which they killed with a walkout in the regular session in late May and the updated version that Abbott and allies are pushing, are precisely the sort of attacks that the landmark Voting Rights Act was intended to protect against.

These bills are the fire hoses and unleashed dogs of today, said state Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth. They give a green light to insurrectionists to become poll watchers.

The Democrats have been sharpening their attacks on Abbott, accusing him of a relentless focus on whittling away minority voters rights while ignoring a failing electric grid, underpaid teachers and an underfunded foster care system until he needed political cover for this special session.

Donald Trumps party chose not to call a special session during a pandemic. Instead, they forced voters to go out during a pandemic and vote, said state Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, who represents parts of North Dallas, Addison and Richardson. But when it comes to bathroom bills and ... limiting the vote, they want to call a special session.

Ramos called the current special session nothing more than a monthlong campaign commercial for his re-election.

For the second day in a row, the Texans spent their morning hearing from advocates for minority and voting rights.

Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or MALDEF, recounted President Donald Trumps efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census to deter, if not eliminate, minority participation. When courts shot that down, Trump sought to create a nationwide database and subtract non-citizens from state tallies when it came time to reapportion U.S. House seats.

The follow-up to that attempt at statistical genocide is what youre seeing today in these efforts across the country to limit participation in voting, Saenz said.

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Texas Democrats may have infected Pelosi and White House aides, dimming prospects for Biden meeting - The Dallas Morning News