President Trump has made it pretty clear he doesn't think the federal government has more than an advisory and support role in battling the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when it comes to ensuring U.S. states and health-care systems have adequate medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) to fight the coronavirus. State officials have gotten the message. Procuring ventilators and PPE has proved especially tricky, though, with state and local governments forced to bid against each other — and the federal government.
And the bidding isn't fair. Trump has used the Defense Production Act to compel companies to sell medical supplies to the federal government before states or hospitals, Kaiser Health News reports, and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) is the most prominent, but not the only, state official to say federal authorities seized shipments of masks the state had ordered from private wholesalers. It isn't clear what the federal government plans to do with these supplies.
"Our biggest problem is that just about every single order that we have out there for PPE, we get a call right when it's supposed to be shipped and it's typically the federal government has bought it," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Saturday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has described trying to buy ventilators and masks as "like being on eBay with 50 other states," while Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on Sunday's Meet the Press that "it literally is a global jungle that we're competing in now" and he'd "like to see a better way."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a news conference last week that states are starting to band together "to see if we can help procure not only a reduction in costs per unit, but also procure a mindset where we're not playing in the margins of a zero sum where it's us versus them" on buying needed supplies. Cuomo suggested "we need a nationwide buying consortium."
"By delegating significant responsibility to state leaders and the business community, Trump can continue to approach his job as he often has: as a spectator pundit-in-chief, watching events unfold on television with the rest of the nation and weighing in with colorful Twitter commentary," The Associated Press notes. But letting the governors take charge carries political risks, too. Peter Weber
Some Republicans have dismissed former Defense Secretary James Mattis' searing rebuke of President Trump — but not Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
Mattis on Wednesday came out with a stunning rebuke of his former boss in The Atlantic, declaring that Trump "tries to divide us." Trump hit back on Twitter, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Fox News accused Mattis of "buying into a narrative that I think is, quite frankly, unfair" to Trump. Other Republicans didn't seem to put a lot of weight in the comments, with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) telling CNN Mattis is "free to express" his opinion and Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) telling NBC the comments weren't "especially helpful" but that he can "express himself" if he wants.
But then there was Murkowski, who told reporters she's "really thankful" for Mattis' "true, and honest and necessary" comments.
"When I saw General Mattis' comments yesterday, I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up," she said, CNN reports. Asked if she can still support Trump, Murkowski told reporters, "I am struggling with it," adding, "I have struggled with it for a long time, I think you know that."
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah.) similarly told Politico that Mattis is an "American patriot of extraordinary service and sacrifice and great judgment," and he called the statement "powerful and stunning." Brendan Morrow
Drew Brees has issued an apology for comments he now says "missed the mark."
The New Orleans Saints quarterback faced criticism this week after saying, while discussing NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice, "I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America." His remarks immediately sparked backlash especially amid the ongoing George Floyd protests, with LeBron James questioning how Brees still doesn't "understand why [Colin Kaepernick] was kneeling on one knee," adding it has "nothing to do with the disrespect" of the flag.
Brees has now apologized on Instagram to "anyone I hurt with my comments yesterday."
"In an attempt to talk about respect, unity, and solidarity centered around the American flag and the national anthem, I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country," he said. "They lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy."
Brees wrote that he stands "with the black community in the fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality" and insisted he has "ALWAYS been an ally, never an enemy." He concluded by saying he recognizes he "should do less talking and more listening ... and when the black community is talking about their pain, we all need to listen."
New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis on CNN praised Brees' apology, calling it a "model for all of America." Brendan Morrow
Around 1.88 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to numbers released Thursday by the Department of Labor.
The number, in line with economists' expectations, brings the total number of people who've filed new jobless claims to 42.6 million over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also continues a downward trend that could signify the worst of the coronavirus economic crash is over. At the unemployment boom's peak in late March, 6.9 million people filed claims.
Still, 21.5 million people filed continuing claims — unemployment claims filed for at least two weeks in a row — in a sign that many people aren't getting their jobs back even as parts of the economy reopen. Kathryn Krawczyk
President Trump is now 7.8 percentage points behind Vice President Joe Biden in RealClearPolitics' polling average, and when you scratch deeper than the national head-to-head polling, his numbers have "turned from mixed to bleak," Axios reports. He and Biden are statistically tied in Texas, per a Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday, and in Ohio, according to a new Fox News poll. Fox News' pollsters also have Trump losing badly in Wisconsin and modestly in Arizona, both states he needs to win.
Top Republicans say "Trump's handling of the nation's civil unrest, including his hasty photo op at St. John's Church after the violent clearing of Lafayette Park, make them much more worried about his chance of re-election than they were one week ago," Axios reported Thursday morning. And "yesterday, advisers admit, was inarguably brutal," with Defense Secretary Mark Esper dissenting from Trump's use of active-duty troops and Esper's predecessor, James Mattis, excoriating Trump as divisive, immature, and a violator of the Constitution who must be held to account.
Trump is sending a clear, consistent signal "that in the five months remaining between now and Election Day he will be singularly focused on his core supporters — and whatever energizes them most," Gabby Orr writes at Politico. "The base-only strategy is a gamble for Trump, whose campaign spent much of the past year trying to build up good will with suburban swing voters — knowing their disapproval alone could cost him re-election. But the base is also his safe space." And given his slumping poll numbers with independents, senior citizens, suburban woman, and even his core white evangelical base, it may be his best option. Peter Weber