https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...58e066-1a15-11eb-82db-60b15c874105_story.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/20...-oversight-report-rips-trump-admin-s-n1245373
An interim report released Friday by House Democrats blasts the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, labeling it “among the worst failures of leadership in American history” and an “American fiasco.”
Follow the latest on Election 2020
The report, by the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis, says the administration has consistently misled the country about the severity of the pandemic and that its lack of a national plan has hampered the ability to track, test for, treat and contain the virus. Efforts to provide economic support to Americans have been stymied by a lack of safeguards and policies that favored corporations over small business owners and failed to ensure that workers kept their jobs, the report says.
“President Trump’s decision to mislead the public about the severity of the crisis, his failure to listen to scientists about how to keep Americans healthy, and his refusal to implement a coordinated national plan to stop the coronavirus have all contributed to devastating results: more than 227,000 Americans dead, more than 8.8 million Americans infected, and a dangerous virus that continues to spread out of control nine months after it reached our nation’s shores,” the report’s introduction reads.
The release comes as the United States is experiencing a third wave of infections and hospitalizations. Record numbers of cases have been reported in the past week, according to data tracked by The Washington Post, with the more than 80,000 new cases recorded Wednesday pushing the total number of infections past 8.8 million. At least 228,000 deaths have been linked to the novel coronavirus since February.
Chair of House coronavirus subcommittee asks cargo carriers to return payroll support funds
“This report exhaustively documents what has long been clear: the Trump Administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis has been a tragic failure,” subcommittee Chairman Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) said in a statement that accompanied its release. “While we cannot bring back the more than 225,000 Americans we have lost to this disease, I hope that this report will serve as a wake-up call to make the improvements needed to prevent further unnecessary deaths and deprivation that will occur if the response continues on its current course.”
The wide-ranging critique cites multiple failures by the administration, including examples where officials sidelined top scientists when their advice put them in conflict with the administration’s agenda and repeatedly weakened public health recommendations, including calls to make face coverings mandatory.
It identifies issues with pandemic-related contracting, citing examples in which Trump administration officials awarded contracts without competition to companies that lacked experience in the field or had political connections to the administration. The subcommittee cited a $765 million contract awarded to Eastman Kodak to produce pharmaceutical ingredients. The company won the deal, despite having no pharmaceutical experience, the report says. After the subcommittee’s investigation, the administration put the contract on hold.
Facing its worst crisis since 9/11 airlines are poised to cut tens of thousands of jobs
In other instances, the report says, companies won contracts but failed to meet their obligations. The subcommittee also indicated it is looking into seven contracts issued by four federal agencies that raise “significant red flags.”
The report says the administration undermined efforts to help Americans who lost their jobs or were at risk of losing their homes because of the pandemic, noting that more than six months after the pandemic relief package known as the Cares Act was signed by Trump, 9 million Americans were still waiting to receive the $1,200 checks they were eligible for under the program. The report says that as a result of the subcommittee’s work, agencies have extended the deadline for individuals to claim their payments.
Trump predicts massive stimulus deal after election, but negotiations have mostly ended
And it isn’t just individuals the administration failed, the report contends, saying the Trump administration mishandled programs designed to help small businesses stay afloat.
“The Select Subcommittee’s investigations show that the Trump Administration weakened these programs by prioritizing larger and wealthier businesses over truly struggling small businesses, exacerbating inequity in the economic downturn,” the report says. “The Administration also failed to institute adequate financial controls, leading to significant fraud, waste, and abuse.”
Over the past six months, members of the select subcommittee have launched 30 investigations, sent more than 120 letters and reviewed hundreds and thousands of pages of documents. In addition, it held 15 public hearings and briefings with senior administration officials, experts in public health and economics, and members of the public who have been affected by the pandemic.
More than 200 aviation companies double-dipped into federal pandemic payroll aid
The administration also failed to prevent companies from laying off workers even though they had received funding from a program aimed at keeping people on the job, the panel found.
“Contrary to Congress’s intent, Treasury provided [Payroll Support Program] funds to more than a dozen airline industry contractors that had engaged in mass layoffs,” the report says.
Investigators said aviation contractors laid off or furloughed nearly 58,000 employees before applying for assistance through the Payroll Support Program (PSP), 17 times the number reported by passenger carriers. At least 16,655 employees were laid off or furloughed between when the application period opened and when companies finalized their agreement with the Treasury Department.
Briefings with Treasury officials and contractors and a review of tens of thousands of documents found that the agency knew companies were conducting layoffs, even as their applications for payroll support were pending, but failed to raise objections or require that furloughed employees be rehired once the money was received.
House report is sharply critical of Treasury's handling on the payroll program
The subcommittee sent letters to several aviation contractors that received payroll support funding urging them to halt layoffs or furloughs until the companies had spent all of their remaining PSP funds. Four companies agreed to the committee’s request, but three others declined, including one that told the subcommittee it expects to lay off an additional 125 workers in the next six months.
Despite its concerns, the subcommittee recommended that a second round of payroll support be passed by Congress as part of a broader response to the pandemic. However, it recommended that Congress amend the Cares Act to prohibit involuntary layoffs and furloughs for as long as contractors still have PSP funds.
The panel also investigated issues that have surfaced with voting in four key states, where voters may face long lines and a smaller number of places where they can cast their ballots.
As pandemic surges and economy stalls, Trump fails to live up to dealmaker image in face of partisan gridlock
“Problems during the 2020 primary elections — including closed polling places, long lines, and poll worker shortages — highlighted the risk that some states were not prepared to carry out a free, fair, and safe general election during the pandemic,” the report notes.
The subcommittee urged states to take swift action and that the federal government support those efforts.
“The federal government also must support cash-strapped states and localities as they seek to protect public health during the general election,” the report says. “While the CARES Act provided $400 million to states to prepare for the 2020 election, experts have estimated that $4 billion is needed. On May 15, 2020, and again on October 1, 2020, the House of Representatives passed bills to provide an additional $3.6 billion.”
COVID IS MORE DEVASTATING TO BLACK COMMUNITY BUT TRUMP GOT $500 BILLION DOLLARS SET ASIDE FOR IDK WHO BUT IT DOES SAY "BLACKS"
LASTLY!
BUT I WOULD LIKE YALL TO KNOW "DEMOCRATS CAN BE RACISTS TOO "
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/20...-oversight-report-rips-trump-admin-s-n1245373
An interim report released Friday by House Democrats blasts the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, labeling it “among the worst failures of leadership in American history” and an “American fiasco.”
Follow the latest on Election 2020
The report, by the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis, says the administration has consistently misled the country about the severity of the pandemic and that its lack of a national plan has hampered the ability to track, test for, treat and contain the virus. Efforts to provide economic support to Americans have been stymied by a lack of safeguards and policies that favored corporations over small business owners and failed to ensure that workers kept their jobs, the report says.
“President Trump’s decision to mislead the public about the severity of the crisis, his failure to listen to scientists about how to keep Americans healthy, and his refusal to implement a coordinated national plan to stop the coronavirus have all contributed to devastating results: more than 227,000 Americans dead, more than 8.8 million Americans infected, and a dangerous virus that continues to spread out of control nine months after it reached our nation’s shores,” the report’s introduction reads.
The release comes as the United States is experiencing a third wave of infections and hospitalizations. Record numbers of cases have been reported in the past week, according to data tracked by The Washington Post, with the more than 80,000 new cases recorded Wednesday pushing the total number of infections past 8.8 million. At least 228,000 deaths have been linked to the novel coronavirus since February.
Chair of House coronavirus subcommittee asks cargo carriers to return payroll support funds
“This report exhaustively documents what has long been clear: the Trump Administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis has been a tragic failure,” subcommittee Chairman Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) said in a statement that accompanied its release. “While we cannot bring back the more than 225,000 Americans we have lost to this disease, I hope that this report will serve as a wake-up call to make the improvements needed to prevent further unnecessary deaths and deprivation that will occur if the response continues on its current course.”
The wide-ranging critique cites multiple failures by the administration, including examples where officials sidelined top scientists when their advice put them in conflict with the administration’s agenda and repeatedly weakened public health recommendations, including calls to make face coverings mandatory.
It identifies issues with pandemic-related contracting, citing examples in which Trump administration officials awarded contracts without competition to companies that lacked experience in the field or had political connections to the administration. The subcommittee cited a $765 million contract awarded to Eastman Kodak to produce pharmaceutical ingredients. The company won the deal, despite having no pharmaceutical experience, the report says. After the subcommittee’s investigation, the administration put the contract on hold.
Facing its worst crisis since 9/11 airlines are poised to cut tens of thousands of jobs
In other instances, the report says, companies won contracts but failed to meet their obligations. The subcommittee also indicated it is looking into seven contracts issued by four federal agencies that raise “significant red flags.”
The report says the administration undermined efforts to help Americans who lost their jobs or were at risk of losing their homes because of the pandemic, noting that more than six months after the pandemic relief package known as the Cares Act was signed by Trump, 9 million Americans were still waiting to receive the $1,200 checks they were eligible for under the program. The report says that as a result of the subcommittee’s work, agencies have extended the deadline for individuals to claim their payments.
Trump predicts massive stimulus deal after election, but negotiations have mostly ended
And it isn’t just individuals the administration failed, the report contends, saying the Trump administration mishandled programs designed to help small businesses stay afloat.
“The Select Subcommittee’s investigations show that the Trump Administration weakened these programs by prioritizing larger and wealthier businesses over truly struggling small businesses, exacerbating inequity in the economic downturn,” the report says. “The Administration also failed to institute adequate financial controls, leading to significant fraud, waste, and abuse.”
Over the past six months, members of the select subcommittee have launched 30 investigations, sent more than 120 letters and reviewed hundreds and thousands of pages of documents. In addition, it held 15 public hearings and briefings with senior administration officials, experts in public health and economics, and members of the public who have been affected by the pandemic.
More than 200 aviation companies double-dipped into federal pandemic payroll aid
The administration also failed to prevent companies from laying off workers even though they had received funding from a program aimed at keeping people on the job, the panel found.
“Contrary to Congress’s intent, Treasury provided [Payroll Support Program] funds to more than a dozen airline industry contractors that had engaged in mass layoffs,” the report says.
Investigators said aviation contractors laid off or furloughed nearly 58,000 employees before applying for assistance through the Payroll Support Program (PSP), 17 times the number reported by passenger carriers. At least 16,655 employees were laid off or furloughed between when the application period opened and when companies finalized their agreement with the Treasury Department.
Briefings with Treasury officials and contractors and a review of tens of thousands of documents found that the agency knew companies were conducting layoffs, even as their applications for payroll support were pending, but failed to raise objections or require that furloughed employees be rehired once the money was received.
House report is sharply critical of Treasury's handling on the payroll program
The subcommittee sent letters to several aviation contractors that received payroll support funding urging them to halt layoffs or furloughs until the companies had spent all of their remaining PSP funds. Four companies agreed to the committee’s request, but three others declined, including one that told the subcommittee it expects to lay off an additional 125 workers in the next six months.
Despite its concerns, the subcommittee recommended that a second round of payroll support be passed by Congress as part of a broader response to the pandemic. However, it recommended that Congress amend the Cares Act to prohibit involuntary layoffs and furloughs for as long as contractors still have PSP funds.
The panel also investigated issues that have surfaced with voting in four key states, where voters may face long lines and a smaller number of places where they can cast their ballots.
As pandemic surges and economy stalls, Trump fails to live up to dealmaker image in face of partisan gridlock
“Problems during the 2020 primary elections — including closed polling places, long lines, and poll worker shortages — highlighted the risk that some states were not prepared to carry out a free, fair, and safe general election during the pandemic,” the report notes.
The subcommittee urged states to take swift action and that the federal government support those efforts.
“The federal government also must support cash-strapped states and localities as they seek to protect public health during the general election,” the report says. “While the CARES Act provided $400 million to states to prepare for the 2020 election, experts have estimated that $4 billion is needed. On May 15, 2020, and again on October 1, 2020, the House of Representatives passed bills to provide an additional $3.6 billion.”
COVID IS MORE DEVASTATING TO BLACK COMMUNITY BUT TRUMP GOT $500 BILLION DOLLARS SET ASIDE FOR IDK WHO BUT IT DOES SAY "BLACKS"
LASTLY!
BUT I WOULD LIKE YALL TO KNOW "DEMOCRATS CAN BE RACISTS TOO "
