Much of Washington has failed to put aside its partisan bickering and put their heads together to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Instead, Democrats have used it as another opportunity to condemn the president and accuse him of incompetence. And it may be worse among members of Congress.
Former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) did her part by accusing Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) of ignoring the threat and holding zero hearings about the virus. She called him an "embarrassing tool" and a "joke" for supposedly focusing more on Hunter Biden and Burisma than on public health. Earlier this week Johnson announced that the Senate would vote on a subpoena related to their investigation of the Bidens and the corrupt Ukrainian gas company. Johnson canceled the vote on Wednesday due to "discrepancies."
"This joke, Ron Johnson, is actually politicizing a committee that right now should have one focus: What is going on with the United States of America’s federal response to the coronavirus?" McCaskill sounded off on "Morning Joe." "People should be really angry about this."
McCaskill's accusations received a quick reaction from Sen. Johnson. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which Johnson is chairman, held a hearing last week entitled, "Federal Interagency Response to the Coronavirus and Preparing for Future Global Pandemics." He's also held separate meetings about the disease. And, yes, he's been working on other agenda items too.
"It's a ridiculous charge," Johnson responded. "I actually can walk and chew gum at the same time. I think you can tell from my earlier answer, I'm fully briefed because this administration has been incredibly accessible in terms of coronavirus, so most of my time and effort has been about border issues, coronavirus, cybersecurity."
President Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night about the next steps the administration is taking to combat the disease. Congress is currently debating an emergency relief package.