The Trump administration secretly moved ten billion federal dollars that were supposed to go to hospitals for PPE into vaccine development and likely killed hospital workers.
STAT reported:
The Trump administration quietly took around $10 billion from a fund meant to help hospitals and health care providers affected by Covid-19 and used the money to bankroll Operation Warp Speed contracts, four former Trump administration officials told STAT.
….
“Hospitals in need of the funding would be outraged to know that some of the money was siphoned off, even for important uses, because Congress was clear that this money was for providers and clinicians,†said Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals.
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The Trump administration could have easily gotten the money from Congress for vaccine development, but they intentionally chose to take PPE away from hospitals because they were trying to rush vaccine development so that Trump could win reelection while minimizing the pandemic itself.
The mentality behind the decision is consistent with a president who minimized the value of masks and caused several COVID outbreaks in the White House.
Going to Congress for vaccine funding would have required the former administration to admit that the pandemic was a serious issue and get cooperation from House Democrats on the development of the vaccine, which would have meant sharing credit.
How many frontline healthcare workers died because they didn’t have PPE due to the Trump administration’s decision?
Trump illegally ignored Congress’s constitutional authority, and it likely cost some American healthcare workers their lives.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
