Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) believes if the Senate returns on May 4, lawmakers should call two leading health experts before them to address efforts to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus.
“The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert asked Schumer if he absolutely has to go back to the Senate.
“I’m going back as minority leader, but let me just say this: If we’re going to go back let’s do something about COVID,” Schumer said.
He continued, “We should have tough, strong hearings. I’d like to call Dr. Birx and Fauci before us without Trump hovering over them, correcting them and trying to keep them quiet.”
Check out his comments below:
Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx are both members of the White House coronavirus task force.
Schumer said he would like to ask Birx and Fauci about testing and why it is not currently working and what the United States can do to improve it.
Fauci recently weighed in on testing efforts. He said he is hopeful the United States will have enough coronavirus tests for those who need it by the beginning of June, as IJR previously reported.
Schumer has been critical of Trump’s rollout of the first four coronavirus relief packages in the past, including provisions for testing, as IJR also reported.
He called the administration an “abject failure” in implementing these measures. Schumer also questioned why Trump’s new testing plan included “almost no details.”
Schumer went on to list other officials he would like to see come before the Senate including the head of the Small Business Administration to ask why the small businesses are not receiving adequate relief.
He said he would also like to call the secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor and ask how to send unemployment checks out faster.
As of Friday morning, there are more than 1,070,000 positive coronavirus cases and over 63,000 deaths in the United States alone.
