There are few people these days who believes Donald Trump has handled his first serious crisis, the pandemic caused by COVID-19, very well. In fact, 67 percent of the country say they do not approve of Trump’s coronavirus response while only 33 percent approved. That number means that many Republicans are frustrated with the president’s lack of competence that led to the deaths of 142,000 people.
WaPo: Trump administration pushing to block new money for testing, tracing, and CDC in upcoming coronavirus relief bill https://t.co/X2D20BNjUd
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 18, 2020
Republicans and Democrats plan to debate a new stimulus package meant to provide coronavirus relief to Americans and funding toward addressing the pandemic. Trump, who is desperate to pretend the virus isn’t happening and cover up the data coming from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that makes his failure to lead quite obvious. Additionally, he wants funding to states for testing and contact tracing cut from the bill. It appears he’s terrified of what the numbers will show by November 3.
The Washington Post reports that:
‘The Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday.
‘The administration is also trying to block billions of dollars that GOP senators want to allocate for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and billions more for the Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic at home and abroad, the people said.’
The Senate will begin debate on a 5th COVID bill Monday. What's at stake:
* $600 unemployment extension
* A second stimulus
* Extended enhanced SNAP
* Student loan forgiveness(House already passed these things)
It's usually jokes on here but this is serious. Pay attention
— Je suis un bon enchevêtrement (@HarlemJ11) July 16, 2020
The moves by Trump to block funding to the CDC for political advantage during a pandemic have angered lawmakers across the aisle. The stimulus bill is set to be a contentious debate, and Trump’s weighing in with nonsense and harmful demands.
‘Negotiations are expected to kick off with increased urgency because of the rapid growth of cases — and steady uptick in deaths — in the United States. The number of cases began falling in April but accelerated sharply after Memorial Day, shattering records in the past two weeks.
‘In late May, there were fewer than 20,000 new cases of coronavirus reported each day. On Friday, there were more than 76,000 new cases reported.’
ICYMI: Senate and House Democrats have issued letters urging the Trump administration to reverse its decision to order hospitals to stop reporting critical COVID-19 data directly to the CDC. https://t.co/Eqlp0D9k18
— NPR (@NPR) July 18, 2020
As Americans deal with not only the deaths of their loved ones but unemployment, illness, lung and cognitive function damage, and fear for their children, Donald Trump is worried about only one thing: the upcoming elections. For many Republicans in Congress, the upcoming elections involve them, too, and Trump’s failures reflect on them and make their jobs all that more precarious.
‘The two political parties are far apart on a number of contentious issues, such as unemployment insurance, but the conflict between Trump administration officials and Senate Republicans on money for testing and other priorities is creating a major complication even before bipartisan negotiations get under way. Some lawmakers are trying to reach a deal quickly, as enhanced unemployment benefits for millions of Americans are set to expire in less than two weeks.’
The White House wants to block new funding to help states with testing and contact tracing in an upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks told the Washington Post https://t.co/zw6YniPX2T
— Bloomberg (@business) July 18, 2020
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
