Trump Administration Accused Of Withholding $14 Billion Meant To Expand Coronavirus Testing

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., accused the Trump administration of sitting on around $14 billion in funding meant for coronavirus testing in a letter released Monday.

The letter was sent on Sunday to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on the heels of President Trump's rally in Tulsa, where he appeared to downplay the severity of coronavirus. The letter said the administration had failed to distribute the $14 billion of the $25 billion approved by Congress in April meant to help address the virus’ spread.

Over $8 billion was meant to be used for “contact tracing and collecting data on COVID-19 racial and ethnic disparities.” Another $4 billion was meant to go to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to expand surveillance and contact tracing at the state and local levels. The last $2 billion would be set aside to help pay for testing on uninsured patients.

“While it has been months since these funds were first appropriated, the Administration has failed to disburse significant amounts of this funding, leaving communities without the resources they need to address the significant challenges presented by the virus,” Schumer and Murray said in the letter.

“The United States is at a critical juncture in its fight against COVID-19, and now is the time for an aggressive and fast response. This Administration will put our country at grave risk if it tries to declare an early victory, leave lifesaving work undone, and leave resources our communities desperately need sitting untouched.”

Health and Human Services public affairs assistant secretary Michael Caputo pushed back on the letter, saying Congress failed to clarify where the funds specifically needed to go after it was approved in April.

“A divided Congress failed to give the agency clear direction in law for how to spend the money,” Caputo said in response.

Schumer and Murray’s letter comes as Trump continues to downplay the severity of the pandemic. Trump credited the recent surge in cases to increased testing and appeared to suggest testing be reduced to reduce numbers.

“When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases, so I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please,'" Trump said at the rally.

White House staff has since defended Trump’s comments as being “tongue-in-cheek.”