Full Event Video HERE
During a press call this afternoon, Senator Patty Murray, Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee; Dr. Nicole Lurie, former Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Leslie Dach, Chair of Protect Our Care and former senior HHS official, highlighted the potentially deadly consequences of the Trump Administration’s continued obstruction of the Biden transition effort.
On the call, the participants highlighted how the unprecedented move by the Trump Administration is hindering the incoming Biden Administration from preparing its pandemic response, including on issues such as the impending vaccine distribution effort, manufacture and distribution of badly-needed PPE, and the status of a nation-wide testing infrastructure.
The delay only serves to endanger the lives of Americans by preventing the incoming Biden Administration from being able to address the crisis on day one. As the pandemic continues to rip through communities, it’s clear that the Trump Administration’s obstruction is designed to leave President-elect Joe Biden with the worst scenario possible – once again putting politics before the health and safety of the American people.
“COVID-19 is not going to take a break because Leader McConnell wants to play politics or because President Trump is a sore loser. It is time for Senator McConnell to return to negotiations, President Trump to return to reality, and for Congress to return to work on the relief that our communities so obviously and desperately need,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of Senate HELP Committee. “This obstruction is threatening work that needs to be happening right now like planning to quickly and equitably distribute vaccines nationwide. President Trump’s stalled transition isn’t just costing time, it could cost lives and undermine our national security.”
“I wanted to see if I could make clear to you a number of the consequences of this delay in ascertainment, this delay in the transition, and not having transition officials talking with folks at HHS – because it permeates every single part of the response and it means more people will die. And this situation will continue to become more dire between now and January 20th,” said Dr. Nicole Lurie, former Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Whether it’s vaccines, whether it’s PPE, whether it’s diagnostics, whether it’s therapeutics – right now, there are emergency authorizations for remdesivir and for monoclonal antibodies which is in short supply. Again, where is it, what are the guidelines for use, how is it being used, how do we ensure equity of access and distribution to these. All of these things are levels of really granular information that are needed … Without this, every day delayed means probably hundreds of people who will get sick and die.”
“We’ve talked a lot today, as we should, about the obstruction of President Trump. But I want to talk for a minute about the person who could really fix this – if they would only have the strength to do that – and that is a GSA administrator Emily Murphy,” said Leslie Dach, Chair of Protect Our Care and former top HHS official. “She took an oath of office not to support Donald Trump but to protect the American people. And she, and she alone, has the authority to make this decision. But she refuses to do the right thing — and she must. The sorrow, the death, that America knows is on its way because of this virus, ultimately indeed will rest on her shoulders if she continues to fail to act. You know it’s far better to be fired by Donald Trump for doing the right thing, than it is to do the wrong thing and live with it afterwards.”