Leah Millis/Reuters
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the coronavirus outbreak would "go away" and urged Americans to remain calm as cases jumped and the White House came under mounting pressure to boost its response to the ongoing crisis.
- A group of conservative organizations plans to band to together to lobby the White House and Republican lawmakers to ease shutdown restrictions aimed at combating the coronavirus,the Washington Post reported.
- Over 40 states and the District of Columbia have issued stay-at-home orders for their residents. Both Republican and Democratic governors have ordered their residents to stay home and shuttered non-essential businesses.
- The measures are aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, but have had a detrimental impact on the economy.
- The conservative group will reportedly include top members from the Heritage Foundation, FreedomWorks, and Tea Party Patriots, with others expected to join them. Some of their lobbying efforts have already begun, the Post reported.
- President Trump has signaled impatience to reopen the economy, despite warnings from public health experts that restrictions could last for weeks or even months.
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A handful of powerful conservative advocacy groups reportedly plan to unite to push the president to reopen the economy, despite months of warnings from top public health experts that people need to continue to stay home to combat the coronavirus, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The coalition will reportedly include Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation, Lisa Nelson, chief executive of the American Legislative Exchange Council, Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks president Adam Brandon. The group will also reportedly expand to include other organizations, the Post reported.
The lobbying effort could add to tensions between the White House and the administration's top health experts, who have engaged in a careful tug-of-war with Trump over how long the shutdown orders must last in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus and prevent the nation's medical system from becoming overwhelmed.
The U.S. economy is currently struggling due to stay-at-home restrictions and business closures put in place by states and cities to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The bans have been issued by governors of both parties, in states like Ohio, Maryland, California, and Oregon. As a result, millions have filed for unemployment, and Congress has passed a massive $2 trillion stimulus to shore up the economy during the crisis.
President Trump himself has repeatedly voiced his impatience to lift the stay at home directives and nonessential business closures, even though states, cities, and municipalities are the ones issuing and enforcing these shutdown orders. He first pushed for the economy to reopen by Easter, and once that deadline passed, floated a new deadline of May 1. On Tuesday, the White House unveiled a new "Opening Our Country Council."
Now, prominent conservative groups plan to lobby Trump and Republicans to move forward with reopening the economy, three anonymous sources briefed on the plans told the Post.
Their mission is to lobby the White House and Republican lawmakers to push back against the restrictions recommended by health experts who have warned about the need for mitigation efforts. Some of these lobbying efforts have already begun.
Meanwhile, Trump's own administration's top health officials such as Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergies and Infections Diseases, have urged the public to remain patient and have declined to publicly commit to Trump's deadlines.
At Monday's daily White House coronavirus task force briefing, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin acknowledged that "there's economic risks in both directions."
He said that his team preparing a list of 100 businesspeople who could advise the president on how to guide the economy through the coronavirus crisis.
When asked what he'd recommended the president do in regards to the reopening the economy, Mnuchin replied, "My advice is as soon as it's ready to open, and based upon the medical professionals."
"Again," he added, "We're working very closely with the president and outside business leaders to develop a plan."
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