Mitch wants the Senate to return to work and Pelosi is dragging her feet bringing the House back in session.
On issue has been testing so Trump got the Congress access to hard to find rapid testing capability and rather than accept it and get back tom work, Mitch joined with Pelosi and rejected the tests.
Now, we all appreciate the notion that our leaders should not be seen getting special treatment but these are extraordinary times and we actually want our leaders to have access to these tests so they can safely get back to work and try to find solutions to this problem. We know that the President and Congress should have access to better testing because they are leading the fight against this outbreak.
Trump agreed and ripped the decision saying it was all about politics and if true, Mitch did Trump a disservice.
“No reason to turn it down, except politics,” Trump said on Twitter. “We have plenty of testing. Maybe you need a new Doctor over there. Crazy Nancy will use it as an excuse not to show up to work!”
“There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capitol Hill on Monday,” the president said on Twitter. “Likewise the House, which should return but isn’t because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan. @MarkMeadows.”
Congress’s top leaders on Saturday rejected the Trump administration’s offer to deploy rapid coronavirus testing to Capitol Hill ahead of the U.S. Senate’s planned return on Monday, saying key supplies should be reserved for frontline workers amid the pandemic.
In a rare joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said they “respectfully” reject the administration’s “generous” offer to provide rapid testing capabilities to Congress.
“Our country’s testing capacities are continuing to scale up nationwide and Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly,” said Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, and Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican.
The leaders said that consistent with federal guidance, Congress will use the testing protocols the Office of the Attending Physician has in place until quicker technology is more readily available.
Late Friday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said the administration was sending three Abbott “point of care” testing machines and 1,000 tests to Capitol Hill as the Senate prepares to return to Washington, D.C. on Monday.
No reason to turn it down, except politics. We have plenty of testing. Maybe you need a new Doctor over there. Crazy Nancy will use it as an excuse not to show up to work! https://t.co/NucH4dbKBL— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2020
There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn’t because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan. @MarkMeadows— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2020
