Senator says White House turned down emergency coronavirus funding in early February

Suzanne SmalleyReporter
Yahoo NewsMarch 27, 2020, 7:33 PM CDT


Trump signs emergency aid bill to fight coronavirus



WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, says that Trump administration officials declined an offer of early congressional funding assistance that he and other senators made on Feb. 5 during a meeting to discuss the coronavirus.

The officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, said they “didn’t need emergency funding, that they would be able to handle it within existing appropriations,” Murphy recalled in an interview with Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast.

“What an awful, horrible catastrophic mistake that was,” Murphy said.

On Feb. 5, Murphy tweeted: “Just left the Administration briefing on Coronavirus. Bottom line: they aren't taking this seriously enough. Notably, no request for ANY emergency funding, which is a big mistake. Local health systems need supplies, training, screening staff etc. And they need it now.”

Murphy told Yahoo News that the funding he and other congressional leaders wanted to allocate nearly two months ago would have paid for essential preventative measures, including hiring local screening and testing staff, researching a vaccine and treatments and the stockpiling of needed medical supplies.

“The consequences of that in Connecticut is that we're going to test less people today than we tested yesterday,” Murphy told “Skullduggery” hosts Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman. “And that means that there are lots of people who are positive who are not going to know it, who are then going to be in contact with other people, who are going to spread the disease.”

Connecticut is so undersupplied that officials have had to cut back on tests administered even as suspected new infections are surging, Murphy said, calling the forced reduction in testing “an abomination.”

Murphy said Connecticut has been particularly challenged in trying to build up its supply of re-agents, the compounds needed to run coronavirus tests. Re-agents are mostly manufactured abroad, and Murphy said “the whole world is competing” for them now.

The senator said he spent part of Thursday on the phone with a lab official in Connecticut who said he cannot administer enough tests due to the re-agent shortage.

“Had we appropriated money in February to start buying re-agent, we would be in a position to do many more tests today than we are,” Murphy said. ”It was just so clear to us that the administration didn't think this was going to be a problem. We begged them in that meeting to request emergency funding from the Congress and they told us ... that they had everything that they needed on hand, which was false.”


Murphy also criticized the White House’s decision not to take coronavirus test kits offered by the World Health Organization in January, which he said was an especially devastating mistake because that test was ready to go and easily replicable. Murphy said he believes that, as a result of the administration’s testing decisions, only about 20 percent to 30 percent of people who should be tested are able to do so.

“We didn't appropriate the dollars necessary to build out the testing infrastructure,” Murphy said.

The administration’s laissez-faire approach has also contributed to the country’s soaring infection rate, Murphy said, because Trump had resisted calls to invoke the Defense Production Act. The Defense Production Act, or DPA, allows the president to compel private companies to manufacture products deemed necessary for national security.

Download or subscribe on iTunes: “Skullduggery” from Yahoo News

Trump announced Friday that he was finally invoking the DPA to force General Motors to produce badly needed ventilators. But Murphy said the president had dragged his feet in using the DPA because some of his allies pressured him against invoking it.

“The president is getting push back from right-wing ideologues, from those who believe that the private sector can fix any and all problems that confront the nation,” Murphy said.

“The national Chamber of Commerce and other conservative, free-market ideologues inside the White House are arguing for the president to not use the DPA simply because they philosophically disagree with the idea that government should play any role in the management of supplies at a time like this.”

Sabrina Fang, a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Commerce, did not respond to Yahoo News’ requests for comment.

Calling the president’s coronavirus management strategy an “abysmal failure,” Murphy said the lack of federal leadership continues to directly correlate with cities’ and states’ inability to perform enough tests and stop the disease from spreading in the U.S. He said that supply shortages have led to a “‘Lord of the Flies’ environment in which every single state and every single hospital is left to essentially fend for themselves and try to scrounge together as much equipment as they can.”

Asked what he considers to be the most important thing Trump could do to help the country turn the corner in its effort to contain the coronavirus, Murphy said the president should rethink his recent assertion that the country might be able to return to normal by Easter, which falls this year on April 12.

“What I’m most worried about right now is that the president is just going to get sort of tired of these emergency measures,” Murphy said, referring to the social distancing efforts most Americans are now undertaking. “The result will be that people will start coming out of their homes and we will end up with a health care system in absolute, catastrophic failure.”

Murphy also said he is now close to proposing legislation that will bolster coordination between the U.S, and other countries for pandemic preparedness and protection so that next time a virus emerges, leaders are better able to respond.

“There could be another one at our doorstep next spring at the same time that we’re responding to the current virus,” he said.

He also hailed the passage of a $2 trillion stimulus package late Wednesday. The package is meant to boost an economy staggering under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic and includes billions of dollars in tax credits for hard-hit industries and direct cash payments to individuals, among other provisions.

But while he said he was happy the bill would help the economy recover, “until hospitals have what they need in order to continue to respond to this ... our salvation is really in all of our hands.”

“There is no danger of overreacting right now,” Murphy said. “As the number of people infected grows by leaps and bounds every single day, as more hot spots are created all across the country, we need to take drastic measures.”

He said he is gravely worried about the administration’s “mixed messages” to the public about the duration and importance of social distancing.

“Everything in that bill is meaningless,” Murphy said of the stimulus, “unless we are all personally very serious about engaging in the best practices necessary to repel the virus.”

 

Trump objects to oversight provisions of coronavirus law, setting stage for new front with Democrats



WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump used a relatively rare signing statement Friday to object to portions of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus law, potentially opening a new front with Democrats on the oversight of how that money is spent.

Trump said he would ignore portions of the law demanded by some Democrats to give Congress additional visibility into the stimulus spending, arguing that those requirements would infringe on the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

Congress and the White House moved with stunning speed to pass the massive economic stimulus, the largest in the nation's history, in an effort to avoid economic calamity from the coronavirus. But now that the measure is law, the administration must shell out hundreds of billions of dollars quickly while attempting to avoid controversy.

"It is a big deal," said Danielle Brian with the Project On Government Oversight. "I'm hoping that, given the crisis, Congress will realize this is a line that must not be crossed."

A signing statement is a written pronouncement from a president when a bill is signed into law. The document can be used to explain a president's position, prod Congress to pass more legislation, or to put the president on record raising constitutional issues. But the practice has drawn fire from watchdog groups who say presidents have used the documents to rewrite portions of laws they disagreed with rather than vetoing them.


Brian said Congress has acquiesced to the statements since before the Trump administration, but she said they have no legal meaning, and she urged lawmakers to push back against efforts to undermine congressional oversight of the spending.

"Americans expect and deserve accountability for the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency spending bill, and Congressional oversight of this Administration’s handling of the funds is absolutely critical," Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn said in a statement.

"This attempt by President Trump to bypass oversight is nothing more than a corrupt power grab by an administration known for bending over backwards to shower rewards on its political supporters," she added.

Democrats balked at what they saw as a lack of oversight provisions in the initial draft of the measure. Trump drew attention this week when, responding to questions about those concerns, he declared that, "I'll be the oversight." Lawmakers ultimately OK'd several new entities, including a new inspector general, to monitor the law's implementation.


The legislation, designed in part to help businesses and corporations hammered by closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, creates multiple layers of accountability for the billions of dollars in loans, grants and direct cash that will soon flow from the federal government. The House passed the bill by voice vote on Friday and Trump immediately signed it.

President Barack Obama faced similar concerns after the approval of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. Republicans pilloried the nearly $800 billion effort, arguing it was full of "wasteful government spending." Several GOP lawmakers produced lists highlighting examples they thought were particularly egregious.

Neither House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., nor Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., immediately responded to questions about Trump's statement.

“It’s not a surprise to anyone,” Pelosi said of the president’s signing statement on MSNBC. “Congress will exercise its oversight.”

A Democratic aide speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy said Democrats anticipated the president’s move “so that’s why there are multiple layers of strict oversight in this bill.” The aide pointed to a congressional oversight commission created by the law in addition to the special inspector general and other provisions.

The coronavirus stimulus package, which will send millions of Americans and businesses direct payments or loans, creates several new oversight entities.

The law requires the leaders of a newly created Pandemic Response Accountability Committee to be appointed by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency with the consultation of congressional leaders. The council is an independent agency within the executive branch and Trump said in his statement that requiring it to consult with Congress to fill the roles represents an overreach.

Trump wrote that he anticipates consultation would take place, but that it shouldn't be a requirement.

Another section creates a special inspector general for pandemic recovery within the Treasury Department. The new law requires that person to report to Congress if an agency in the administration denies a document request. Trump said he would not treat the provision as allowing the inspector general to issue reports to Congress without "presidential supervision."

Trump said that other provisions of the law appear to condition the ability of federal agencies to spend money on consultation with congressional committees.

"These provisions," Trump wrote, "are impermissible forms of congressional aggrandizement with respect to the execution of the laws."

Trump said he would "make appropriate efforts to notify the relevant committees" before taking the actions called for in the law but would not treat "spending decisions as dependent on prior consultation with or the approval of" Congress.

 

Trump wants lots of the bail out money.

 

It pisses me off that every bill has just have all kinds of shit attached to it this bill should be four and only for the coronas virus. They have turn the schools where I live in Hospital beds. . This makes no fucking sense at all. For one thing that won’t be used another senior waste of fucking money. . Now if they do get used even buy one fucking person what do you do with the school afterwards. Demolish it and build another one .Who’s gonna feel comfortable about sending your kid to a school that was a hospital at one time for corona victims. . Not fucking me. I hate fucking politicians and I haven’t seen never never have I seen a fucking good one. Everyone of them uses every disaster to fuck the people out of money and Property . For their own gain

 

You do know your claimed Trump quote has been proven to be a lie.perpetuated by NYT reporters?
Yes?
Don't care huh?

 

SIR lie ignored.
SIR preoccupation with presidential penis reported to SIR therapist.
Personal insult ignored.

 

Here ya go, SIR.
Read it and STFU for once.

https://www.redstate.com/sister-tol...-peter-baker-get-caught-altering-trump-quote/

Wait for it...

 

What a fucking joke. Trump withholding anything for any reason is nothing short of blackmail. Plain and simple, trump is a thug!

 

The ultimate source of this story seems to be The Daily Beast. An assertion like this should be attributable to at least one more credible source. As much as I dislike Trump I will not believe everything bad anyone says about him.

 

I LOVE HOW YOU FUCKS , completely, ignore the shit your Democrap leaders have done to . Slow all health needs and, the financial help . The sick people need . To make sure their agenda train is not slowed down or derailed . What makes you liberals so blind , why do you people want your , voice and freedoms taken away , not to mention your power as a person . Why would you want you government telling everything , you can or cannot do . You people are just bizarre. You the same people will be the first to complain. When it all goes your way . You will find that life will not be so good. And you will also find yourself broke . With no way to get ahead.

 

Nothing new, just the same tired old rhetoric repeated since this started....she sounds like she's posting a "Forum Thread"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Pelosi on Trump's coronavirus response: 'As the President fiddles, people are dying'​

Updated 9:34 AM ET, Sun March 29, 2020
response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying "his denial at the beginning was deadly" and that as he "fiddles, people are dying."

"We should be taking every precaution. What the President, his denial at the beginning was deadly," Pelosi said in an exclusive interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.
Pelosi added, "As the President fiddles, people are dying. We just have to take every precaution."
After the number of reported coronavirus deaths in the US doubled to more than 2,000 within two days, officials are advising residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut not to travel domestically.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the travel advisory Saturday, urging residents of the three states to "refrain from nonessential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately."
When asked about Trump suggesting to relax social distancing guidelines in parts of the country, Pelosi said, "His delaying of getting equipment to where it -- it continues his delay in getting equipment to where it's needed, is deadly. And now I think the best thing would be to do is to prevent more loss of life rather than open things up, because we just don't know."

 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling the simple and obvious truth. Trump continues to help spread the virus while the response from his administrations remains completely incompetent while Americans die because of it.

And now who did you say was politicizing the epidemic?

Internet stunned after ‘sociopath’ Trump brags his pandemic press conferences are getting ratings like ‘The Bachelor’ finale

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/in...are-getting-ratings-like-the-bachelor-finale/

 

Yes, yes she was. 1,400 pages someone reported. And all of it pork for Nancy and her crew. Blatant vote buying. And it may still be submitted. No chance of it passing the Senate, and it will have blow back consequences just like her impeachment thingy. But what the hell, the Whitehouse is already lost. Gotta try to save the house.

 

Sen. Kennedy: Congress tried to hide 'spending porn on pet projects' in stimulus bill, but Americans noticed​

In an effort to reach a compromise on the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package which President Trump signed last week, Republican lawmakers had to "swallow" the "spending porn on pet projects" in the bill, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.

Speaking on "Sunday Morning Futures," Kennedy railed against what he called "all kinds of porn" that "some powerful members of Congress" included in the bill. He said those lawmakers "think the American people... are morons and won't notice, but they did."

"They think the American people... are morons and won't notice, but they did."

— Sen. John Kennedy
"It's why so many Americans think there's no intelligent life in Washington, D.C.," he said. "This is what many Americans heard. Members of Congress say, 'Oh, my God. We could run out of ventilators. Oh, my God, people could die quickly. Let's give money to the Kennedy Center and the post office now.' That tells the American people that common sense is dead. Nonetheless, those of us who are fiscal conservatives, we swallowed it. We had to, we passed the bill. I think it's going to help the American people," Kennedy told Maria Bartiromo.

"But," he added, "a pox on the house and houses of all those members of Congress who took advantage of this disaster, this tragedy, to take care of their pet projects."

Many Republican lawmakers criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., saying she used the crisis as leverage to try jamming through a political "wish list" of unrelated items. Kennedy said they included a provision to speed up the FDA review process of sunscreen products, funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and additional cash for the post office.

"It's not a priority right now," Kennedy said. "I think once we drill down, we're gonna find out that she's [Pelosi] not the only one. I think some other people in powerful positions piled on, and I don't like it, and it's not fair to the American people."

"Now, look, I'm tired as a tick. I squeak when I walk. I'm so cheap with taxpayer money. But, I said, 'look, this is necessary. I swallowed it and said, we're gonna spend 2-trillion-plus dollars because the American people need it. But, when I pick up this bill and see this kind of spending porn where people were taking advantage of a catastrophe for the American people, it pi--es me off," he continued.

Pelosi, for her part, has pointed the finger at Trump, saying he downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus and delayed ramping up the federal government’s response to it -- claims the White House has denied.

Kennedy's state has been a "hot spot" of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., with over 3,300 reported cases to date. The Louisiana senator has been focussed on "saving lives" while "also trying to save livelihoods" and despite his criticisms, his people will rely heavily on the economic relief bill for help, he explained.

"We are coping. We have about 3,300 cases, we've had around 130 deaths, we're clearly a hot spot. It began in New Orleans and it's kind of moving out through this, throughout the state," Kennedy said.

"I will say that a lot of my people are very upset at the spending porn on pet projects that was slipped into the bill, but my people are also grateful for help from the American taxpayer."

— Sen. John Kennedy
"We're we're trying to save lives and we're also trying to save livelihoods because our economy shut down. The legislation we just passed will help. It'll get money directly to people, to hospitals, to businesses. I will say that a lot of my people are very upset at the spending porn on pet projects that was slipped into the bill, but my people are also grateful for help from the American taxpayer."

Kennedy later said the coronavirus pandemic underscored the importance of securing America's medical supply chain and ramping up production of life-saving medicines to end the country's long-time reliance on the Chinese government.

"Sometimes, the cheapest is not in your national interest, and right. We may be able to back components for pharmaceutical drugs cheaper in China, but we've learned through this experience that that may not be in the national interest," he concluded. "And, after this is over, we beat the virus and we will, you're going to see some change, though, long overdue."