Article: Senators find $14 billion in unspent COVI
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Posted On: 06/22/2020 3:12:47 PM
Article: Senators find $14 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds after Trump admits to ordering testing slowdown.
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https://flip.it/SGhawP
A majority of the $25 Billion for testing allotted by Congress remains unspent.
Excerpts:
Following President Donald Trump's admission during a campaign rally in Oklahoma over the weekend that he ordered administration officials to "slow the testing down" in response to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, two leading Democratic senators on Sunday slammed the Health and Human Services Department for failing to spend $14 billion in funds Congress approved in April to expand coronavirus testing and tracing.
"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," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter (pdf) to HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday.
The senators' letter notes that the Trump administration has yet to spend more than $8 billion of the $25 billion Congress appropriated for coronavirus testing in April. The administration has also failed to spend $4 billion in funds for COVID-19 contact tracing and nearly $2 billion to provide free testing for the uninsured, according to Murray and Schumer.
"We call on you to immediately disburse the remainder of the $25 billion in funds to ramp up testing and contact tracing capacity," the senators wrote, "as well as to make sure providers are aware of and able to easily access the $2 billion that Congress appropriated to provide testing for the uninsured."
View the article.
https://flip.it/SGhawP
A majority of the $25 Billion for testing allotted by Congress remains unspent.
Excerpts:
Following President Donald Trump's admission during a campaign rally in Oklahoma over the weekend that he ordered administration officials to "slow the testing down" in response to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, two leading Democratic senators on Sunday slammed the Health and Human Services Department for failing to spend $14 billion in funds Congress approved in April to expand coronavirus testing and tracing.
"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," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter (pdf) to HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday.
The senators' letter notes that the Trump administration has yet to spend more than $8 billion of the $25 billion Congress appropriated for coronavirus testing in April. The administration has also failed to spend $4 billion in funds for COVID-19 contact tracing and nearly $2 billion to provide free testing for the uninsured, according to Murray and Schumer.
"We call on you to immediately disburse the remainder of the $25 billion in funds to ramp up testing and contact tracing capacity," the senators wrote, "as well as to make sure providers are aware of and able to easily access the $2 billion that Congress appropriated to provide testing for the uninsured."
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