Trump Reportedly Trying to Siphon $37 Million From Heating Assistance for the Poor to Fund Coronavir [View all]

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Source: common dreams




Trump Reportedly Trying to Siphon $37 Million From Heating Assistance for the Poor to Fund Coronavirus Response



Wednesday, February 26, 2020

"Because if we have to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, we might as well take the opportunity to make some poor families freeze."



Critics are denouncing it as an unconscionable attack on the nation's poor after reporting revealed President Donald Trump has floated plans to shift $37 million away from a federal program that provides heating assistance for low-income families to help fund the White House's response to the growing coronavirus threat.

The Washington Post's Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman reported Tuesday that the White House informed congressional Democrats that it wants to transfer "$37 million to emergency funding for the coronavirus response from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which funds heating for poor families."

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House Democrats, according to the Post, view the LIHEAP cut as a non-starter that could further delay the federal government's response to the coronavirus outbreak. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that the virus could spread rapidly across the U.S. and urged Americans to prepare for "significant disruption in their daily lives."

"After dithering for weeks as the coronavirus spread around the world, the Trump administration has now decided to pay for its belated response by cutting funding for heating assistance for low-income families," Evan Hollander, a spokesman for House Appropriations Committee Democrats, told the Post.

"House Democrats won't allow the president to shut off families' heat in the middle of winter," added Hollander. "We will craft an emergency supplemental that treats this pandemic seriously and provides robust funding without stealing from other important priorities."...........................

Read more: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/26/trump-reportedly-trying-siphon-37-million-heating-assistance-poor-fund-coronavirus

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Pelosi Statement on President Trump’s Budget Request on Coronavirus Response


https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/22420-0


February 24, 2020
Press Release

San Francisco – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement on the Trump Administration’s request for supplemental funds to combat the coronavirus crisis:

“Americans need a coordinated, fully-funded, whole-of-government response to keep them and their loved ones safe. The President’s request for coronavirus response funding is long overdue and completely inadequate to the scale of this emergency.

“For almost two years, the Trump Administration has left critical positions in charge of managing pandemics at the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security vacant. His most recent budget called for slashing funding for the Centers for Disease Control, which is on the frontlines of this emergency. And now, the President is compounding our vulnerabilities by seeking to ransack funds still needed to keep Ebola in check.

“Weeks after the Trump Budget called for slashing the CDC budget during this coronavirus epidemic, this undersized funding request shows an ongoing failure to understand urgent public health needs.

“Our state and local governments need serious funding to be ready to respond effectively to any outbreak in the U.S. The President should not be raiding money that Congress has appropriated for other life-or-death public health priorities.

“The House will swiftly advance a strong, strategic funding package that fully addresses the scale and seriousness of this public health crisis.”