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 call—the latest in a series of briefings taking place while members are scattered across the country—comes 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 government’s 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
= new reply since forum marked as read
i can't even picture this
was he doing the gator?
✌🏼
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.
remember this?
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