In the News
FIRST IN PULSE: DEMS SEEK ANSWERS OVER WHO FUNDING HALT— Top House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats are demanding details on Trump's announcement he will suspend funding to the World Health Organization, arguing there is "no justification" for the move.
"It is also a blatant attempt to scapegoat WHO for the Trump Administration's own failures in its response to the global pandemic," Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone and subcommittee chairs Anna Eshoo and Diana DeGette wrote in a letter to OMB Acting Director Russell Vought.
Six weeks after the president and other senior officials promised that any American would soon be able to get a test for coronavirus, testing continues to lag, prompting an escalating call from leading medical centers, lawmakers and others for the administration to put in place a coordinated national strategy.
Lawmakers are searching for every possible avenue to combat the coronavirus pandemic, and some House Democrats, including Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), are demanding the Trump administration lift restrictions on the use of human fetal tissue, mostly resulting from abortions, to help researchers develop medicines for COVID-19.
President Donald Trump is "playing politics" with lives with his manipulation of Colorado's ventilator request to help embattled GOP Sen. Cory Gardner's reelection, a Democratic lawmaker charges.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency hijacked 500 ventilators ordered by the state for COVID-19 patients, but Trump restored 100 as a special favor to Gardner in a move that will help the vulnerable lawmaker's reelection, complained Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.).
Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette wants the FDA to look into the hoarding of drugs used to treat coronavirus. She said the prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine can take away the drugs from those who really need them.
Hydroxychloroquine has been touted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 patients. There is a dispute among medical professionals about the effectiveness of the drug for coronavirus.
Using it for coronavirus has also resulted in a huge demand and shortage.
During recent appearances, President Donald Trump has energetically hyped hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as potential miracle cures for COVID-19, even though they haven't been approved for this purpose by U.S. agencies and the only evidence that they may have a positive effect is purely anecdotal. His argument can basically be summarized like so: The drugs have proven safe in other contexts, and if they don't do anything to knock down the novel coronavirus, no harm/no foul.
Rep. Diana DeGette, a veteran Democrat, said that President Donald Trump's announcement that he would send 100 ventilators to Colorado smacks of a political favor to vulnerable GOP Sen. Cory Gardner after the federal government had not fulfilled the delegation's request for the devices.
"I think this thing that happened with Sen. Gardner and President Trump is very disturbing," the Colorado Democrat told CNN Wednesday evening. "What is the process here?"
More than a dozen House Democrats on Monday called on the Trump administration to lift restrictions on research that uses human fetal tissue to allow for studies on potential treatment for COVID-19.
The lawmakers argued in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar that such studies could lead to developing coronavirus treatments more quickly. Public health officials have estimated that a vaccine will not be available for at least another 12 to 18 months.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette gave a glimpse into the next potential piece of federal coronavirus legislation on Tuesday night, saying that it might contain continuing financial aid to individuals, and vowed that a congressional investigation of the federal government's response would take place after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I will assure you that once we're past this — and even now, I'm talking to my staff about putting together a very robust investigation to make sure this never happens again," she said on a call with constituents.