Press Releases
Trump Admin Failures Come to a Head During Lame Duck
Consequences of Inaction, Incompetence, and Mismanagement In Clear View as Economy Sputters, COVID Cases Surge
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As President Trump’s time in office ticks closer to an end, his ongoing failures on public and economic health during the lame duck are a clear progression from the many months of bungling the nation’s COVID-19 response. With the economy and small businesses struggling, testing resources dwindling, and coronavirus cases at an all-time high, the president is laser focused on contesting the clear results of his landslide election loss — to the public’s detriment.
“The Trump administration has mismanaged its COVID-19 response from the start, and now that the president is on his way out of office, we’re watching the devastating consequences of his months of inaction play out before our eyes,” said government watchdog Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig. “With the economy sputtering along and coronaviruses cases reaching record highs, the president’s priority should be curbing the virus’ spread and bolstering support for workers and small businesses. Instead, he’s spreading election disinformation and uplifting conspiracy theories as the nation’s death toll climbs.”
More than eight months after President Trump first claimed that “anybody who wants a test, can get a test,” his administration still has yet to establish a robust, accessible, affordable nationwide coronavirus testing regime. Across the country, the Trump administration’s testing failures have resulted in Americans having no choice but to take off work to wait in hours-long lines for ever-scarcer testing resources — sometimes having to pay as much as $150 — in order to protect themselves and help curb the spread of the pandemic. And low-income and hourly workers are bearing the brunt of the burden.
And with several crucial relief programs established in the CARES Act slated to run out in the new year, the Trump administration is doubling down on not extending support to small- and medium-sized businesses — leaving workers, small business owners, and the economy in increasingly precarious positions while the nationwide COVID surge worsens.
As the chaos unfolds, the Trump administration continues to undermine public health and national security by withholding resources from President-elect Biden’s team and obstructing a smooth transition of power.
###