Congress, states and top U.S. bureaucrats take the lead on crisis response
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week exchange an elbow bump, one of the greetings recommended amid the coronavirus outbreak. Credit: AP / Susan Walsh
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Feel free to ignore the uproar over President Donald Trump's insistence on using the term "China Virus." That's just one of his sideshows for the fan base. As a practical matter, it leads nowhere.
He can call coronavirus by a spiteful little blame-name if he wants. His relevance to governing, however, comes only when he signs relief bills crafted by others capable of negotiating them, or gets out of the way of professionals running federal operations.
As in past crises, the Senate and House act on relief bills worth billions of dollars, maybe trillions. Most Americans will root for their success and hope it helps us all get past the emergency.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the national GOP's true powerhouse, backed the House aid package, which passed in his chamber Wednesday. His Democratic counterpart, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, negotiated the terms with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
"It is a well-intentioned bipartisan product assembled by House Democrats and President Trump’s team that tries to stand up and expand some new relief measures for American workers,” McConnell (R-Ky.) had said of the House bill.
Despite “real shortcomings” in the legislation, McConnell said Wednesday, “in this case, I do not believe we should let perfection be the enemy of something that will help even a subset of workers.”
In New York State, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo becomes the relevant face of fact and assurance, a bit like New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani did in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, at times eclipsing President George W. Bush.
This week, Cuomo began pushing for more hospital beds for potential coronavirus patients. He credited Trump for agreeing to send a U.S. Navy hospital ship to New York Harbor to alleviate the burden of noncoronavirus cases on land-based hospitals caring for COVID-19 patients. On Wednesday, amid the exploding number of infections in the state, Cuomo announced a statewide mandate that no business can have more than half of its staff report to their regular work location, except essential workers.
“I understand the impact to the economy, but in truth, we're past that point as a nation," Cuomo said. "There's going to be an impact on the economy. Not just here in New York, but across the nation."
On a national level, the U.S. and Canada joined a global trend by agreeing to close their border to “all nonessential travel." A new crackdown on the Mexico border is coming.
Within the executive branch, qualified people are managing to work around the president's frequent misinformation and contradictions.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has become a key public figure. He's run the relevant office of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years. His briefings are no-nonsense affairs and carry credibility.
Rest assured: It was only Trump — not Fauci — who on March 9 issued this silly tweet:
"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year.
"Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, with 22 deaths.
"Think about that!"
Early Wednesday evening, much had shut down, with the economy stalled. There were 8,442 coronavirus cases reported in the United States, including 149 deaths, a number that is expected to rise sharply.
The president may wish to think about that.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
