SHOT: The Pentagon Used Money Meant for PPE to Make Jet Parts and Body Armor
A $1 Billion Fund Designated For Medical Supplies Has Been Funneled To Defense Contractors.
- “A $1 billion fund Congress gave the Pentagon in March to build up the country’s supplies of medical equipment has instead been mostly funneled to defense contractors and used to make things such as jet engine parts, body armor and dress uniforms. The change illustrates how one taxpayer-backed effort to battle the novel coronavirus, which has killed about 200,000 Americans, was instead diverted toward patching up long-standing perceived gaps in military supplies.” [Washington Post, 9/22/20]
The Pentagon Gave Defense Contractors Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars For Projects That Had Little To Do With Coronavirus Response.
- “The months after the [CARES] stimulus package was passed, the Pentagon changed how the money would be used. It decided to give defense contractors hundreds of millions of dollars from the fund, mostly for projects that have little to do with the coronavirus response. Defense Department lawyers quickly determined that the money could be used for defense production, a conclusion that Congress later disputed.” [Washington Post, 9/22/20]
The Payments To Defense Contractors Were Made In Spite Of Funding Gaps For COVID Relief.
- “The payments were made even though U.S. health officials think major funding gaps in pandemic response still remain. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in Senate testimony last week that states desperately need $6 billion to distribute vaccines to Americans early next year. Many U.S. hospitals still face a severe shortage of N95 masks. These are the types of problems that the money was originally intended to address.” [Washington Post, 9/22/20]
CHASER: As the Administration Funnels Millions to the Military, Protective Equipment Like N95 Respirators Are Still in Short Supply
Following President Trump’s Sparing Use Of His Authority To Increase Production Of Masks, Some Nurses Report Being Asked To Reuse N95 Masks Until They Are Broken Or Visibly Dirty.
- “At Hopkins, nurses are asked to keep wearing their N95s until the masks are broken or visibly dirty… When the country was short of ventilators, the companies that made them shared their trade secrets with other manufacturers. Through the powers of the Defense Production Act, President Trump ordered General Motors to make ventilators. Other companies followed, many supported by the government, until the terrifying problem of not enough ventilators wasn’t a problem at all. But for N95s and other respirators, Trump has used this authority far less, allowing major manufacturers to scale up as they see fit and potential new manufacturers to go untapped and underfunded. The organizations that represent millions of nurses, doctors, hospitals and clinics are pleading for more federal intervention, while the administration maintains that the government has already done enough and that the PPE industry has stepped up on its own.” [Washington Post, 9/21/20]
Though The Trump Administration Claims N95 Shortages Are Solved, An August Survey Of 21,500 Nurses Showed 68% Of Them Are Asked To Reuse Respirators.
- “Ask the Trump administration, and the N95 shortage is nearly solved. Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, whom Trump put in charge of securing PPE, said that by December, 160 million N95s will be made in the United States per month. By his calculations, that will be enough to handle a “peak surge” from hospitals, clinics, independent physicians, nursing homes, dentists and first responders. The Strategic National Stockpile has 60 million N95s on hand, and states are rebuilding their stockpiles… But ask the people inside hospitals, and the shortage is far from over. An August survey of 21,500 nurses showed 68 percent of them are required to reuse respirators, many for more than the five times recommended by the CDC, and some even more than Kelly Williams. One Texas nurse reported she’s still wearing the same five N95s she was given in March.” [Washington Post, 9/21/20]