Senator Angus King tells VP failed virus testing is 'dereliction'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Frustration boiled over into anger on a private call with Vice President Mike Pence as Democratic senators questioned administration officials about coronavirus testing plans but left without adequate answers.
At one point in the Friday call, Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent and former governor, told Pence the administration's failure to develop an adequate national testing regime is a “dereliction of duty,” according to a person who joined the hour-long call but was unauthorized to discuss it and granted anonymity.
“I have never been so mad about a phone call in my life,” King told the administration officials, the person said.
The plea for more testing before implementing President Donald Trump's new guidelines to ease stay-home restrictions is a top priority for Democrats. They are heeding the warnings of health officials worried the virus will simply boomerang into prolonged national crisis.
The outburst came as Republicans signaled Friday they are willing to accept Democratic demands for additional federal funding for hospitals as part of an effort to break a stalemate over the Trump administration's $250 billion emergency request for a small-business paycheck subsidy program that's out of money.
https://news.yahoo.com/pressure-lawmakers-virus-aid-firms-051108816.html
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