A group of Senate Democrats expressed concerns to Trump Administration officials about the relative lack of resources to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
The request follows the release of the Trump Administration’s new budget proposal, which suggested cutting public health and preparedness programs that protect against global health threats.
“We remain deeply concerned with the rapidly evolving 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19),” the senators wrote in a letter to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Mick Mulvaney.
“While we appreciate the critical work happening at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and government-wide to respond to this emergency, the Administration has not been forthcoming about how much funding will be needed to respond to the outbreak.”
The letter was signed by 26 Senate Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Patty Murray (D-WA).
“Based on the global escalation of cases and the increasing demands on federal, state, and local public health agencies, we are concerned that HHS has not requested additional resources. We have heard the growing concerns from states and local public health departments about their escalating costs associated with travel screening, isolation and quarantine, staffing, contracts, goods and services, and equipment for the response,” they wrote. “We strongly urge the Administration to transmit an emergency supplemental request that ensures it can and will fully reimburse states for the costs they are incurring as part of this response – including costs associated with the enactment of travel screening and quarantine policies laid out by the Federal government.”