Trump administration trying to block billions in funds to states conducting Covid-19 testing, claims report
President Donald Trump recently said in an interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace that he is sure the coronavirus will eventually disappear, however, a report suggested on Sunday, July 19, that his administration is trying to block billions from states to carry out testing and contact tracing in the upcoming Covid-19 relief bill. The US has seen over 3.76 million people getting affected by the virus while over 140,000 have died.
According to a report in The Washington Post, people close to the development confirmed on the condition of anonymity that the administration is eyeing to block massive funds that Republican senators want to allocate for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic both at home and overseas. Some of the lawmakers are even trying to push back and ensure that the funds do not go off the bill.
The talks are centered around a bill that is being prepared by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and will be unveiled this week as part of talks with the Democrats on what is likely to be the final Covid-19 relief bill before the November 3 election.
GOP lacks agreement on funds allocation
The two main political parties, who came together to push through the first relief bill in March end, are yet not in consensus over a number of issues, including unemployment insurance. But the friction within the GOP over allocating funds for testing and other priorities has created an obstacle even before the parties resolve their issues. Time, too, is running out since the enhanced benefits for several Americans are set to expire by the end of this month.
The Post cited one source to say the Senate GOP members were eyeing allocation of $25 billion for the states to carry out testing and contact tracing. But some of Trump's officials are in favor of zero commitment saying they have already approved billions for the testing and some of that money was not spent.
Trump wants states to take more responsibility
The president and the White House want the states to bear more responsibility for testing and have objected to setting up national standards, even seeking to minimize the federal government’s role. The last major coronavirus spending Bill that the Congress approved in April included $25 billion to raise testing and required the Health and Human Services Department to issue a strategic testing plan. Though it was released in May but the plan reasserted that the administration is firm over its insistence that the states should take a lead on the issue of testing.
Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy is among those GOP members who are trying to push funds for testing and tracing provision but are likely to meet resistance from the White House, the Post reported. Sam Hammond, a policy expert at Niskanen Center think-tank which has been working with the Senate GOP members on testing legislation, said the "main bottleneck" in boosting testing caused more by the White House's "intransigence" than any other issue.
Trump's controversial stand on the coronavirus pandemic became evident twice in the past two months as he said it would go away even without the use of a vaccine. The Post report also cited sources to add that the Trump administration is seeking to slash spending for the Pentagon and State Department related to foreign aid. It was, however, unclear why the Trump administration would seek to block funds for the Pentagon for a variety of Covid-19-related expenses. The White House declined to comment, the report added.