Senate Democrats Demand Investigation Into Trump Administration COVID-19 Response

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is leading nine other Senate Democrats in a call for an investigation into the federal government’s coronavirus response. 

A Repeat of the Impeachment Saga? 

Democratic Senators Tom Udall, Ed Markey, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden, Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Chris Van Hollen joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her letter to the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Wednesday. The letter accuses the administration of creating “confusion and distress among states by seizing equipment orders and providing little transparency about decision-making.” 

Warren and fellow Democratic senators are questioning the political and “partisan” nature of Trump and his administration’s response to the coronavirus, claiming that stimulus checks were delayed in order to attach the president’s name on them for political benefit, as well as suggesting that how much support a governor receives from the administration in dealing with the virus is determined by how much the governor in question supports the government. 

The letter comes after congressional lawmakers have already begun setting up panels to investigate the government’s response, with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announcing legislation that would create a commission to probe the federal government’s response to the pandemic in a similar fashion to the 9/11 case. 

Schiff’s commission, joined by Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris would eventually be holding public hearings and events to get information, as well as “possess subpoena power” to force cooperation out of not only the federal government, but state and local ones as well. 

The commission will likely not be formed until at least February of next year, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a “here and now” committee, which would inspect and track where the funds for the massive stimulus package are going.