No Watchdog over $2 Trillion
This past week, we’ve seen more and more depraved, irresponsible, and corrupt actions from Donald Trump. Every day, Trump’s total disregard for oversight measures that could curb his corruption is made more clear. For example, one of the coronavirus recovery packages passed by Congress required an existing inspector general to be selected by a council of other inspectors general to provide oversight for the $2 trillion relief package. In accordance with that law, a council of inspectors general selected Glenn Fine, the acting inspector general at the Department of Defense who has worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations, to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.
But earlier this week, Trump abruptly fired him. Recently, Trump also fired several other inspectors general who served as checks against corruption, fraud, abuse, and waste of federal funds. These firings are an appalling erosion of the checks and balances in our government (especially since Trump has made a hobby of ignoring Congressional oversight) and should serve as a serious warning of the dangers of the Trump administration. It’s no exaggeration to say that our republic is in grave danger if Trump is re-elected.
In addition to this string of firing and punishing whistleblowers, the federal government is also continuing to fail in its response to the coronavirus pandemic and has been woefully ineffective in getting people assistance they so crucially need. Small business loans promised in relief legislation are difficult to apply for, and those who do apply are experiencing delays and uncertainty. Stimulus checks may take months to get to Americans who desperately need immediate relief, and some impacted folks aren’t eligible for them.
And, right as the pandemic is starting to reach peak infection and death rates in the U.S., underscoring the importance of increasing testing availability, the federal government has announced it will be ending funding for coronavirus testing, forcing some testing sites to close. It’s clear that the Trump administration has criminally mishandled the response to the pandemic, resulting in untold preventable suffering and death. We can’t let anyone in our lives forget this as we approach November’s election. With the news moving faster than ever, it can be easy to forget exactly how we ended up here. So we want to be really clear about this one thing: Trump and the Republican Party caused this whole mess. And the only way to fix it is to vote them out.