Tensions flare as Democrats press Pence over coronavirus testing
Source: The Hill
Tensions flared on Friday between Senate Democrats and Vice President Pence as senators pressed administration officials during a conference call for answers on coronavirus testing. The hourlong callthe latest in a series of briefings taking place while members are scattered across the countrycomes as the administration is eager to start reopening the country even as Democrats and public health experts warn there needs to be a dramatic escalation in testing.
"I have never been so mad about a phone call in my life," the normally mild-mannered Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, said during the conference call with Pence and other Trump officials, according to two sources. King, according to one of the sources, views the administration's stance on testing as an "abdication of the federal governments responsibility." A second source said King specifically labeled the administration's lack of national testing regime as a dereliction of duty" on the call.
In addition to questions about testing, two sources confirmed that Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) questioned Pence during the call on a series of tweets from Trump calling to "LIBERATE" states, offering apparent support for protestors who are calling for restrictions to be lifted. Kaine asked Pence why Trump "was trying to incite division in the midst of a global pandemic," according to a Senate aide familiar with the call. Two sources told The Hill that Pence did not directly answer the question, with one characterizing him as saying Pence "danced around it."
The second source said Pence "tried to deflect by talking about how they are working respectfully with governors, and Kaine jumped back in to say that those tweets are not at all respectful." Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), according to the source, wrapped up the call by saying that Democrats agreed with Kaine.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/493394-tensions-flare-as-democrats-press-pence-over-coronavirus-testing
ffr
(22,665 posts)The sooner we get rePuticans out of power the sooner this Twilight Zone Zombie nightmare is over!
mobeau69
(11,131 posts)LastDemocratInSC
(3,645 posts)dweller
(23,610 posts)i can't even picture this
was he doing the gator?
✌🏼
Blue Owl
(50,238 posts)n/t
OneCrazyDiamond
(2,031 posts)The demand for coronavirus tests at the nation's private labs, which handle the vast majority of testing for COVID-19, has dropped so much since its peak that the labs now have "considerable" unused capacity and can test more lower-priority patients, according to the American Clinical Laboratory Association.
What gives, I thought they were getting a handle on testing.
KPN
(15,635 posts)personnel to take the samples?
modrepub
(3,488 posts)This guy is going to cause a lot of chaos before he leaves.
I'll say it again, we need some type of backstop legislation to prevent states from taking more $ than they are contributing. I don't care if people in the hinterlands don't want socialized anything. Then practice what you preach and keep your roads and schools up with your own tax money.
JDC
(10,114 posts)He is the worst of the worst.
not fooled
(5,801 posts)remember this?
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