What to Know
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are calling for Congressional oversight into what they say is the Trump Administration's politicization of government functions that it impeded the country's appropriate response to the ongoing pandemic.
- Both governors also railed against the CDC guidance that people without symptoms do not need to get tested for COVID calling it "dangerous" and "indefensible."
- To date, nearly 7 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, and more than 200,000 Americans have died due to it -- this figure is more than any other country.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are calling for a Congressional oversights investigation into what they say is the Trump Administration's politicization of government functions that impeded the country's appropriate response to the ongoing pandemic.
"Rather than turning to the advice and direction of public health experts and career public servants, President Trump instead put the health and security of the American people in the hands of political appointees whose first priority was securing the reelection of their benefactor, with predictably tragic results," the governors' statement reads in part.
Both governors also railed against the CDC guidance that people without symptoms do not need to get tested for COVID calling it "dangerous" and "indefensible."
According to the two, the revelation that the White House scrapped the Department of Health and Human Services plan to use the U.S. Postal Service to ship five life-saving masks to every household in the country for free in April was "heartbreaking."
"Imagine the lives that could have been saved if every household were provided masks at such a crucial time," they said.
The duo went on to say: "As a country, we cannot allow this type of politically-motivated decision making to take root. Logic dictates that COVID won't be the last public health challenge we will face, and we can't afford to again respond by playing politics, instead of listening to the science and facts. Congress must immediately conduct an oversight investigation into the Trump administration's response to this pandemic, including the actions at HHS and the USPS the public learned about over the past week...Our future health and economic security depends on holding the Trump administration accountable today."
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Cuomo also touched upon the topic during his coronavirus briefing on Thursday saying that the federal government "has proven itself to be incompetent when it comes to COVID."
To date, nearly 7 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, and more than 200,000 Americans have died due to it -- this figure is more than any other country.
