Pelosi calls Trump administration policies on testing and tracing inadequate

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called President Trump’s administration’s policies on coronavirus testing and tracing inadequate on Sunday as dozens of states report rising COVID-19 cases.

The Speaker issued an update on coronavirus negotiations following the White House’s proposal of a $1.8 trillion coronavirus stimulus package and after more than 54,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday. Saturday was the fourth day in a row in which more than 50,000 new cases were documented in the U.S. More than 7.7 million Americans have now contracted the virus and more than 214,000 have died.

Pelosi slammed the administration for “tragically” not having a “national plan for testing tracing and treatment.” 

“We have other differences in terms of who benefits from the spending,” Pelosi said in her statement. “But in terms of addressing testing, tracing and treatment, what the Trump Administration has offered is wholly insufficient.”

“We cannot safely reopen schools, the economy and our communities until we crush the virus with the science-based national plan for testing, tracing, treatment and isolation, and for the equitable and ethical distribution of a safe and effective vaccine once developed,” she added, reiterating her comments on Saturday.

The Speaker also noted that a plan including $75 billion in funding is included in the House-passed Heroes Act, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has declined to take to the Senate floor. 

Pelosi critiqued the White House’s latest plan, saying it only offered about $45 billion in new money, which she said is “only about 60 percent of what is needed.” She said the definitions of community spread and rate of transmission are “one-tenth of what needs to be recognized to stop” the virus. 

And she condemned the administration for “unacceptably” giving limited support for territories and tribes and for “cruelly” not addressing how the virus has disproportionately affected communities of color.

“The heart of the matter is: can we allow the virus to rage on and ignore science as the Administration proposes, or will they accept the scientific strategic plan in the Heroes Act to crush the virus,” she said.

“Until these serious issues are resolved, we remain at an impasse,” she added. “However, I remain hopeful that the White House will join us to work toward a relief package that addresses the health and economic crisis facing America’s families and will do so soon.”

Pelosi on Friday accused the president of “delay, denial, distortion of reality” on the pandemic and of not having “the capacity, leadership or plan for testing, tracing and isolation that is needed.”

Pelosi has been negotiating with Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin on a new coronavirus relief bill for months, rejecting White House proposals for not offering enough money. She called the recent proposal “one step forward, two steps back” on Saturday.